VETERAN HK ACTIVISTS CONVICTED OVER RALLIES
They are latest group to be prosecuted as China cracks down on dissent
NINE veteran Hong Kong activists face jail after they were convicted yesterday for their roles in organising one of the biggest democracy protests to engulf the city in 2019.
The defendants included some of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy campaigners, many of whom are non-violence advocates who had spent decades campaigning in vain for universal suffrage.
They were the latest group of democracy figures to be prosecuted as China oversees a sweeping crackdown on dissent following seven months of democracy protests in the financial hub.
Among them are Martin Lee, an 82-year-old barrister who was once chosen by Beijing to help write Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, and Margaret Ng, a 73year-old barrister and former opposition lawmaker.
Media tycoon Jimmy Lai, currently in custody after his arrest under Beijing’s new national security law, was among those convicted.
Leung Kwok-hung, an opposition politician known by his sobriquet “Long Hair” who has also been detained on national security charges, was also sent down.
Others are leading members of the Civil Human Rights Front, the coalition that organised huge rallies throughout 2019.
“We are very proud even if we have to go to jail for it,” Lee Cheuk-yan, a former legislator and labour leader told reporters. “We will still march on no matter what lies in the future.”
Seven were found guilty of organising and knowingly participating in an unauthorised assembly.
Two others had previously pleaded guilty.
They face up to five years in jail.