By James Pomfret and Jessie Pang
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s High Court on Tuesday sentenced 45 pro-democracy activists to prison terms of up to 10 years in a landmark national security trial that has damaged the city’s once-struggling democracy movement and has provoked international condemnation.
A total of 47 pro-democracy activists were arrested and charged in 2021 with conspiracy to commit subversion under a national security law imposed by Beijing and faced sentences of up to life in prison.
Benny Tai, a former jurist identified as an “organizer” of the activists, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, the longest sentence yet under the 2020 national security law.
Some Western governments have criticized the trial, with the United States describing it as “politically motivated” and saying the Democrats should be freed because they had been “peacefully engaging in political activities” that were legal.
The governments of China and Hong Kong say national security laws were necessary to restore order after mass pro-democracy protests in 2019, and that democrats have been treated in accordance with local laws.
VERY FOLLOWED TRIAL
The charges were related to the organization of unofficial “primary elections” in 2020 to select the best candidates for the upcoming legislative elections. The activists were accused by prosecutors of plotting to paralyze the government through potentially disruptive acts if they had been elected.
Following a 118-day trial, 14 of the Democrats were found guilty in May, including Australian citizen Gordon Ng and activist Owen Chow, while two were acquitted. The other 31 pleaded guilty.
The sentences ranged from just over four years to ten years.
Prominent Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison, while Chow was sentenced to seven years and nine months; Former journalist turned activist, Gwyneth Ho, was sentenced to seven years.
Elsa Wu, the mother of Hendrick Lui, sentenced to more than four years in prison, was taken in a police van outside the courtroom and shouted: “He is a good person… he is not a political prisoner… Why do you have to do it?” Go to jail?
She screamed before the police closed the van door.
Hundreds of people had lined up since the early hours outside the court, many with umbrellas in a light rain as they tried to get a seat inside the main courtroom and in several secondary courts.
Authorities deployed a heavy police presence in front of the West Kowloon Magistrate’s Court and in several surrounding blocks.
“I feel it is necessary to witness such injustice,” said a woman who identified herself as Margaret and had been in line since Sunday afternoon. “I’ve been following their case for a long time. They (Democrats) need to know they still have public support.”
The ruling, which critics say tarnishes Hong Kong’s role as a global financial center, comes as the city hosts an international financial summit to attract more business.
US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has been a staunch critic of the trial and in a previous open letter criticized the convictions of the 47 Democrats as evidence of the “comprehensive attack on the autonomy of Hong Kong” of the national security law. , rule of law and fundamental freedoms.”
Britain, which returned Hong Kong to China in 1997, has said the 2020 security law has been used to curb dissent and freedom.