‘Hong Kong 47’ trial: 14 pro-democracy activists found guilty of conspiracy to commit subversion | Hong Kong

Fourteen people have been found guilty in Hong Kong’s biggest national security trial, the prosecution of the so-called “Hong Kong 47” pro-democracy activists.

Sixteen of the cohort pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit subversion to rig an election primary and were among detained in mass actions by the National Security Police in January 2021. Most have been in jail awaiting trial since then.

Charges of “conspiracy to undermine state power” were brought against them. under the national security law which was introduced seven months earlier.

On Thursday morning, the 16 defendants sat in the docks behind a glass panel as the three-judge panel began to read their verdict.

“After considering all the evidence and submissions, the court found [14 defendants] guilty as charged,” the bench said.

Two defendants, former district councilor Lawrence Lau Wai-chung and Lee Yue-shun, a former social worker, were acquitted of the charge. Both ran in the primary, and these are the first acquittals issued following a prosecution under a national security law.

The court then retired to allow time for the parties to read the judgment and discuss any pleas they wished to consider.

The two acquitted defendants were allowed to leave the dock, but prosecutors asked for them to remain on bail while they appeal the appeals.

Of the Hong Kong 47, the remaining 31 who pleaded guilty are still awaiting the results of their cases. The judges had decided to finish the trial of the others before moving on to handing down the sentences.

The 10-month trial ended in December, more than 1,000 days after the cohort was first arrested. Early Thursday, three national security judges are expected to spend at least two days handing down their full sentences against the 16 defendants, including one primary organizer, dual Hong Kong-Australian citizen Gordon Ng, and 15 candidates.

Those found guilty face life in prison.

Observers began lining up outside the courts in West Kowloon before midnight, hoping to find a place inside to watch the hearing. By morning, the queue had grown to several hundred people, with a large contingent of media and a heavy police presence. Grandma Wong, a well-known activist, waved a Hong Kong flag outside and shouted in protest.

One supporter arrived at 4am. “I want to go inside to show my support [for the defendants]she told the Guardian. “This is a case about the election and I think the government is making some unreasonable allegations against them and that’s unacceptable.”

The Hong Kong resident declined to give her name for fear of being identified, but said she had no qualms about attending court in support of pro-democracy figures.

“It’s our right to have an open court and to go in and listen.”

At least a dozen foreign diplomats were also present, mostly from the European Union. The deputy head of the EU office, Matthias Kaufmann, said they were following the case closely. “We are monitoring the trials to show our interest and commitment to human rights and democracy around the world.”

Most of the 47 have been denied bail, including Jimmy Sham, who was described as a “resolute and determined young man” for continuing to push for the five demands of the pro-democracy protesters, and former MP Claudia Moe, 65, whose messages on WhatsApp with Western journalists in previous years were cited as evidence that she posed a national security risk.

The Hong Kong Prosecutor’s Office 47 was heavily criticized by foreign governments, human rights groups and the defendants’ lawyers. The arrests themselves were criticized as politically motivated. Others accused Hong Kong of denying procedural fairness with a judge-only trial and hearing dates that stretched for months with repeated delays.

The judicial system – already under strain after thousands were arrested during protests in 2019 – appears to be struggling with such a large group of defendants.

The election primaries took place on 11 and 12 July 2020, organized by legal scholar and activist Benny Tai. Tai was also an organizer of the “umbrella movement” protests in 2014, for which he served four months of a 16-month prison sentence. Prosecutors argued that Tai’s primary plan to win a majority in parliament and ultimately force the dissolution and resignation of the chief executive amounted to an abuse of power and a subversive conspiracy.

Days earlier, Hong Kong Minister Eric Tsang warned in an interview that the primary election could violate the National Security Law (NSL), which has been in place for just over a week.

Unofficial primary elections were held as in previous years for both sides of politics, and more than 600,000 residents took part in what many observers described as a protest vote against the Hong Kong government. More than six months later, the organizers, candidates and workers involved were arrested, with most later released. A senior police official told the media that the organizers’ plans amounted to sabotage.

The head of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office in Beijing called for “severe punishment” for two of the accused, Tai and prominent student protester Joshua Wong, calling them “the cruelest traitors”.

The Hong Kong government’s crackdown has left the city without there is essentially no active political opposition. Dozens have been arrested or jailed, others are scared into silence. Many have fled abroad, including some who have been charged. The Hong Kong government has issued large bounties to several “fugitives”prompting several countries hosting Hong Kongers in exile to terminate their bilateral extradition agreements.

Michael Mo, a former district councilor and academic now based abroad, told X on the eve of the hearing that organizing unofficial primaries had never been and should never be considered subversive. “For people like us who live in exile, we must make those who stifled the city’s freedom pay the price.”

In March, the government introduced another national security law, known as Article 23. The Act does not repeal the existing NSL, but fulfills a long-standing constitutional obligation for the territory to enact its own legislation.

This week saw the first arrests under the new law of six people accused of publishing messages with seditious intent ahead of an “upcoming sensitive date”, according to police.

Next week marks the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, an event banned from public recognition on the mainland Chinabut was marked by tens of thousands in Hong Kong by 2020.