Top pro-democracy leaders were jailed for subversion

A Hong Kong court has sentenced dozens of pro-democracy leaders to years in prison for subversion, following a controversial national security trial.

Benny Tai, 60, and Joshua Wong, 28, are among the so-called group of 47 Hong Kong activists and lawmakers involved in planning to select opposition candidates for local elections.

Tai received 10 years while Wong received more than 4 years. A total of 45 people was imprisoned for plotting to commit subversion. Two of the defendants were acquitted in May.

This is the largest trial under the harsh national security law (NSL) that China imposed on Hong Kong shortly after the city was blockaded. Pro-democracy protests erupted in 2019.

The Beijing and Hong Kong governments deny this, arguing instead that the NSL is necessary to maintain stability. They also said the sentences were a warning to those trying to sabotage China’s national security.

“No one can engage in illegal activities in the name of democracy and try to evade justice,” China’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. They also said they “resolutely oppose” Western countries’ “undermining the rule of law in Hong Kong”.

The city’s pro-democracy campaigners reacted to the verdicts with disappointment and sadness.

“We are devastated and their families are devastated,” Emily Lau, former chairwoman of the Hong Kong Democratic Party, told the BBC’s Today programme.

She added that she and many others could not enter the courtroom because it was full. Tuesday’s hearing attracted huge interest from Hong Kong residents, dozens of whom had lined up outside days earlier to get a spot in the public gallery.

Many of the 45 people on trial are symbols of Hong Kong’s protest movement. Tai, a law professor, became famous as a key leader in 2014, Wong was still a teenager when he joined the operation, and Gwyneth Ho, a former young journalist, had to enter hospital after a mob attack during the 2019 protests.

Veteran former lawmakers like Claudia Mo and Leung Kwok-hung, also known as Long Hair, have spent much of their careers fighting for a freer Hong Kong, and first-time activists as Owen Chou and Tiffany Yuen stormed the legislative council where the meeting was taking place. a decisive moment for the protests.

They were all in court in a rare public appearance as many have been in jail since their arrests in early 2021 as pre-trial detention is common under the NSL.

Standing in line Tuesday was Lee Yue-shun, one of two defendants acquitted. He told reporters he wanted to urge Hong Kong people to “question” the case, as “everyone has a chance to be affected” by its outcome.

There are a number of activists waiting to enter the court. Bobo Lam, who was arrested under NSL, said he came to support his friends who are currently in prison and “let them know that there are still many Hong Kong people who have not forgotten them”. Others seemed buoyed by the number of people who turned up, suggesting they “remember what happened”.

An elderly woman, Regina Fung, chanted “everyone come on, support Hong Kong” before the hearing. “It’s sad, even the weather in Hong Kong today is very bad,” she said.

Inside the courtroom, family members and friends waved from the hallway to the defendants, who appeared calm as they sat in court. Some people in the gallery shed tears as the sentences ranging from four to 10 years were read.

Tai, a former law professor who came up with the plan for the unofficial primary, received the longest sentence with judges saying he had “supported a revolution”.

Wong had his sentence reduced by a third after he pleaded guilty. But unlike some other defendants, he was not given a further reduction because the judge “did not consider him to be of good character.” At the time of his arrest, Wong was in jail for participating in protests.

In court, Wong shouted “I love Hong Kong” before leaving the dock.

As Leung’s wife, activist Chan Po-ying, walked out of the courthouse at the end of the hearing, she was heard chanting against his prison sentence.

The US described the trial as “politically motivated”. Australia said it “strongly opposes” the use of NSL and is “deeply concerned” by the sentencing of one of its citizens, Gordon Ng.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer raised the case of billionaire Jimmy Lai, a democracy activist in prison, when he met Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the G20 summit on Monday. The 76-year-old man was tried for treason

“I certainly hope the British government, the prime minister, will stand up to protect the rights they promised the people of Hong Kong,” Ms Lau told the BBC. All these promises, these rights and the rule of law are disappearing.” She asked why holding an election requires going to jail.

After the 2019 protests tapered off due to the Covid pandemic, The defendants organized an unofficial primary for the Legislative Council election as a way to continue the democratic movement.

Their aim is to increase the opposition’s chances of blocking pro-Beijing government bills. More than half a million Hong Kongers voted in the primary election held in July 2020.

Organizers argued at the time that their actions were permitted under Hong Kong’s Basic Law – a mini-constitution that allows certain freedoms. They “never imagined that they would end up in jail just for criticizing the government,” former opposition lawmaker Ted Hui, who participated in the primary election and later fled to Australia, told BBC Newsday.

But it has alarmed Beijing and Hong Kong officials, who warn that the move could violate the NSL, which takes effect days before the primary election. They accused the activists of plotting to “overthrow” the government and arrested them in early 2021.

At the end of the trial, the judges agreed with the prosecution’s argument that the plan would create a constitutional crisis.

“The central government is using the trial to re-educate the people of Hong Kong,” said John P Burns, emeritus professor at the University of Hong Kong. The lesson is that “national security is the country’s top priority; Don’t challenge us on national security.”

“This case is important because it provides clues about the workings of Hong Kong’s legal system,” he told the BBC. “How can following the procedures set out in the Basic Law be illegal?”

A spokesperson for Human Rights Watch said China and Hong Kong “have now significantly increased the costs of promoting democracy in Hong Kong”.

Stephan Ortmann, assistant professor of politics at Hong Kong Metropolitan University, agrees. Tuesday’s verdict “sets a precedent for the severity of penalties for dissidents under the NSL”, adding that “self-censorship has become the norm”.

But this is not a victory for Beijing, said Sunny Cheung, an activist who ran in the 2020 primary but later fled to the US. “They may be happy in a way because the entire opposition is being destroyed… but they don’t have the trust of the people.”

Others, like Ms. Lau, said the city had lost more than a generation of democracy campaigners.

“There have been no permissions for marches and demonstrations in the last few years – it has been very, very quiet, very peaceful,” she said.

“But that’s not Hong Kong. If you’ve been to Hong Kong, you know this is a city of protests. Very colorful, very vibrant, but not anymore.”