Hong Kong courtroom has sentenced 45 pro-democracy figures to jail phrases of between 4 and 10 years, within the metropolis’s largest nationwide safety prosecution for the reason that regulation’s introduction in 2020.
The jailed are among the many so referred to as “Hong Kong 47” pro-democracy group, who have been arrested and charged in 2021 over their involvement in a casual pre-election major vote the yr earlier than.
They embody a few of the most public faces of the resistance to the Beijing-led crackdown on the pro-democracy camp of Hong Kong’s once-vibrant political scene. Some have been jailed earlier than on activism fees. For a lot of it’s their first offence. These concerned within the primaries included activists, politicians, campaigners, social employees and group leaders who had been drawn to the pro-democracy motion after months of protest.
The 2020 primaries got here simply days after the introduction of the nationwide safety regulation (NSL) a sweeping piece of laws imposed by the Chinese language authorities to criminalise acts of dissent, sedition, and overseas collusion. Hong Kong minister Erick Tsang had warned that the primaries might violate it. However the organisers went forward, taking of venture that the pro-democracy motion might nonetheless discover a manner.
The group aimed to win a majority in Hong Kong’s parliament, the Legislative Council or LegCo, after which use it to dam payments and pressure the dissolution of LegCo and the eventual resignation of the chief government. Nationwide safety judges discovered this to be an act of subversion.
Listed below are a few of the most distinguished members of the Hong Kong 47:
Benny Tai was accused by prosecutors of being a major instigator of the primaries plan, and by Beijing of being a “vicious traitor”. A regulation professor and activist, Tai had beforehand been jailed over his involvement within the 2014 “umbrella motion”. He had printed a manifesto outlining a plan to pressure the governments in Hong Kong and China to revive Hong Kong’s autonomy and democracy. The primaries, and profitable not less than 35 seats within the 70-seat LegCo, have been half one among that plan. Tai pleaded responsible and was sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Joshua Wong is a high-profile pupil activist and politician. The 28-year-old is in jail serving different protest-related sentences. Wong was amongst a bunch of younger activists who gained prominence throughout the 79-day “umbrella motion” protests in 2014 that demanded common suffrage for Hongkongers. They went on to co-found the pro-democracy Demosisto political celebration, and 4 candidates have been elected to the Legislative Council however have been disqualified for modifying the oath of workplace after they tried to take their seats. The celebration was formally disbanded after the introduction of the nationwide safety regulation in June. Wong pleaded responsible and was sentenced to 4 years and eight months.
Claudia Mo was one among Hong Kong’s most outspoken democratic legislators, and founding father of the Civic celebration. She is a fierce advocate for the pro-democracy motion and protesters. She resigned from parliament in November 2020, alongside your entire pro-democracy bloc, in protest in opposition to the Beijing-ordered disqualification of 4 colleagues. In a message on Fb quickly after she was charged, Mo advised supporters “I perhaps bodily feeble, however I’m mentally sturdy … No worries. All of us love Hong Kong yah.” She was denied bail partially due to WhatsApp conversations she’d had with overseas media. In jail, the 67-year-old has reportedly run language classes for different prisoners. She was denied permission to go to her husband, British journalist Philip Bowring, when he was sick. Mo pleaded responsible and was sentenced to 4 years and two months.
Gordon Ng is a Hong Kong-Australian twin nationwide, accused of being an organiser of the primaries, which he denies. In an August 2022 assertion posted on-line by an middleman, Ng had mentioned: “Do I feel I’ve dedicated against the law? I don’t, I completely don’t. I’m able to face the most important battle of my life within the battlefield of courtroom. I worry, however I don’t retreat.” Ng pleaded not responsible, and was sentenced to seven years and three months.
Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam, 34, supposed to run within the elections. The previous reporter for Stand Information grew to prominence throughout the 2019 protests, which she coated from the frontlines, livestreaming her reporting from Yuen Lengthy station as gangs attacked protesters and commuters after which the reporter herself. She has beforehand mentioned that she wouldn’t go away Hong Kong as a result of “the price of exile was extra insufferable for me than anything”. Ho, who pleaded not responsible, was sentenced to seven years in jail.
Leung Kwok-hung, additionally identified by his nickname “Lengthy Hair”, is a well known activist and former politician. The 68-year-old was internet hosting a radio present earlier than his arrest. In 2017 he was disqualified from LegCo after he and three different pro-democracy politicians modified their oaths of allegiance to China throughout a swearing-in ceremony. Leung had held a yellow umbrella – an emblem of pro-democracy motion in Hong Kong – whereas studying his oath. Leung pleaded not responsible to the nationwide safety cost. On Tuesday he was sentenced to 6 years and 9 months.
Eddie Chu Hoi-Dick is a former LegCo member and social activist, who supposed to run as a candidate. The 47-year-old was a distinguished environmental and housing rights activist. In 2020 he was concerned in a number of of Hong Kong LegCo’s frequent scuffles, and was later arrested over one among them. He had additionally been arrested over alleged involvement in organising one of many massive protest marches in July 2020. In December that yr he and a colleague resigned from LegCo in protest at Beijing’s one-year extension of the present legislative time period. He pleaded responsible and was sentenced on Tuesday to 4 years and 5 months.
Carol Ng Man-yee, 54, is a former flight attendant and former president of the Hong Kong Confederation of Commerce Unions (HKCTU) and Labour celebration member. She was an energetic labor advocate and was concerned within the institution of the British Airways union in Hong Kong. Ng had no prison report, and had not run for election till the primaries, which she misplaced. On Tuesday the courtroom famous that she had no prison report, had misplaced the first vote during which she ran, and had not attended any coordination assembly or press convention for the first. It additionally famous that after her loss she didn’t say or do something “in furtherance” of the group’s plan. She pleaded responsible, and was sentenced to 4 years and 5 months.
Helena Wong is a retired college lecturer and former LegCo member. In 1989 Wong co-founded one among Hong Kong’s first pro-democracy events, the United Democrats, which later turned the Democratic celebration. She was elected to symbolize Kowloon West in 2012. Wong was amongst seven Democrats (together with Eddie Chu Hoi-dick) arrested over the LegCo fracas in 2020. She had run as a candidate within the primaries, however misplaced, saying afterwards that she would retire from LegCo and never contest her seat. Wong pleaded not responsible. She was sentenced to 6 years and 6 months.
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