Hong Kong jails pro-democracy activists

Five activists recently sentenced on the charge of conspiracy to commit subversion appealed their convictions and prison terms this week. A Hong Kong court convicted the five, along with 40 other pro-democracy activists, ex-lawmakers, and former district councilors, over their involvement in a July 2020 unofficial primary election.

The 45 defendants’ prosecution under a national security law, imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing in June 2020, has quashed the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. The lockup of many of the city’s core opposition leaders has prompted others to flee the territory. Critics of the sentencing say authorities have used the law to criminalize political dissent.

On the rainy morning of Nov. 19, hundreds of Hong Kong residents lined up outside the West Kowloon Law Courts Building to secure seats for the sentencing in Hong Kong’s largest national security trial. Those who arrived to support the defendants included 92-year-old Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen, who walked with the help of a stick.

Later that morning, Hong Kong’s High Court sentenced the defendants to prison terms ranging from 10 years to four years and two months. Prominent Christian pro-democracy leaders Benny Tai, 60, and Joshua Wong, 28, were among those jailed. Tai, a former law professor, organized the pro-democracy camp’s primary to select candidates for a legislative election originally scheduled for September 2020. He received the longest sentence of 10 years. Wong, who cofounded the now-defunct Demosisto political party and ran in the primary, was sentenced to four years and eight months.

Pro-democracy candidates who ran in the primary hoped to claim a majority in Hong Kong’s then-70-seat legislature that has long been dominated by the pro-Beijing camp. Some vowed that if elected, they would veto the government’s annual budget, which could have forced the ouster of Hong Kong’s then-Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who was backed by Beijing. More than 610,000 Hong Kongers in the city of 7.5 million voted in the unofficial primary. Following the pro-democracy camp’s primary, Beijing revamped Hong Kong’s electoral system to ensure only those who the government considers to be patriots will run in elections.

The High Court in May ruled that the organizers and candidates of the primary had planned to secure a legislative majority to “undermine, destroy or overthrow” the existing political system and Hong Kong’s structure. The three national security judges on the court, designated by the office of Hong Kong’s chief executive, said the defendants’ intention to indiscriminately veto the budget could lead to a constitutional crisis. The judges identified Tai as the mastermind of the conspiracy.

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the 45 defendants “face life-altering imprisonment simply for their peaceful participation in political activities.” He said that the activities were protected under Hong Kong’s mini-constitution. The sentences hurt the reputation of Hong Kong’s judicial system, Miller added. In response to the sentencing, the United States plans to impose new visa restrictions on Hong Kong officials responsible for implementing the national security law. Other Western governments and international rights organizations also criticized the sentencing as being motivated by politics.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s government has defended the sentencing, saying the United States’ visa restrictions were despicable. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian also said Beijing firmly supports Hong Kong’s efforts to safeguard national security. “No one can engage in illegal activities under the banner of democracy,” he said.

Before entering the courtroom for the Nov. 19 sentencing hearing, Elsa Wu held a sign that read, “God is with you.” Police officers made her put it away. The sign was meant for her adopted son Hendrick Lui, 42, who ran for election in the primary. The court handed down a sentence of four years and three months to Lui, a Christian and a former social worker.. Outside of the court, Wu afterward protested his imprisonment, holding up a banner that read, “The righteous shall live, the wicked must perish.” Police later arrested the distraught mother for disorderly conduct.

The 45 jailed activists include people that Hong Kong citizens voted for, said Carmen Lau, senior advocacy associate at the Washington, D.C.-based Hong Kong Democracy Council. She characterized the sentencing as “a crackdown on the voices of Hong Kongers who believe in democratic values and freedom and human rights.”

Lau well understands the personal costs of the court’s verdict. Some of her close friends and former colleagues are among those imprisoned. Before Lau fled to the United Kingdom out of fear of political persecution, she served as a district councilor and an officer of Hong Kong’s now-disbanded, pro-democracy Civic Party, to which three of the sentenced ex-lawmakers belonged. Lau was distressed to hear about the activists’ prison terms, but she also expressed relief: “there is finally a date of release for all of them.”

By now, Hong Kong authorities have detained many of the defendants for nearly four years after charging them in February 2021. Officials will likely deduct that detention from their sentences, which means several could be released as soon as May 2025. However, Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang said the city’s government may seek longer prison terms for some defendants.

Tai and Wong are among the 31 defendants who pleaded guilty, a move that led judges to deduct up to one-third of their sentences. In Tai’s case he at first faced up to 15 years in prison because judges deemed him a principal offender. Sixteen others pleaded not guilty including the two defendants who were acquitted in May and Gwyneth Ho, a 34-year-old former journalist at the now-defunct pro-democracy Stand News outlet. Ho, sentenced to seven years for running in the primary, is one of the five appealing their convictions and sentences.

Shortly after the sentencing, Ho’s Facebook account showed a statement, likely posted by her supporters on her behalf. “I pleaded not guilty to defend the political expression of 610,000 Hong Kong people,” the statement reads. “Our true crime for Beijing is that we were not content with playing along in manipulated elections.”

—with additional reporting from Josh Schumacher