Court sentences activists to jail amid crackdown
HONG KONG — A Hong Kong court on Friday sentenced five leading prodemocracy advocates, including media tycoon Jimmy Lai, to up to 18 months in prison for organizing and participating in a huge march during 2019 antigovernment protests that triggered an overwhelming crackdown from Beijing.
A total of nine advocates were given jail terms, but four of them, including 82yearold lawyer and former lawmaker Martin Lee, had their sentences suspended after their age and accomplishments were taken into consideration.
They were found guilty earlier this month of organizing and participating in a protest in August 2019 where an estimated 1.7 million people marched in opposition to a bill that would have allowed suspects to be extradited to mainland China. The march was not authorized by the police.
Their convictions and sentencing are another blow to the city’s flagging democracy movement, which is facing an unprecedented crackdown by Beijing and Hong Kong authorities. The sentences swiftly drew international criticism.
The court suspended the 11month prison sentence of Lee, who is known for his advocacy for human rights and democracy, because of his age.
Lai, the founder of Hong Kong’s Apple Daily tabloid, was sentenced to a total of 14 months in prison Friday for charges related to demonstration on Aug. 18, 2019, and a separate unauthorized march on Aug. 31, 2019.
Lai was also slapped with two additional charges Friday, one under the national security law accusing him of conspiring to collude with foreign powers and another accusing him of helping activists escape the city.
Prior to sentencing, Lai was already being held on other charges, including a previous charge of foreign collusion to intervene in the city’s affairs — a new crime under a sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed on the city in 2020.
Lee Cheukyan, a prodemocracy activist and former lawmaker who helped organize annual candlelight vigils in Hong Kong on the anniversary of the bloody crackdown on prodemocracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989, was sentenced to a total of 14 months in prison for his participation in the two August 2019 marches.
“I’m ready to face the penalty and sentencing and I’m proud that I can walk with the people of Hong Kong for this democracy,” Lee Cheukyan said ahead of the court session.
Beijing had pledged to allow Hong Kong to retain civil liberties for 50 years after it was handed to Chinese rule in 1997, but recently has ushered in a series of measures, including the national security legislation and electoral reforms that many fear are a step closer to making Hong Kong no different from mainland cities.