It was the largest national security trial in Hong Kong. On Tuesday, the courts sentenced 45 pro-democracy activists found guilty of “subversion” to sentences of up to 10 years in prison.
Jurist Benny Tai was sentenced to 10 years in prison, the longest sentence handed down to date under the 2020 law, promulgated a year after massive and sometimes violent demonstrations in favor of democracy in this administrative region. (SAR) of China.
The group accused of creating a “constitutional crisis”
All the activists were found guilty of organizing an unofficial primary intended to select opposition candidates for the legislative elections, in the hope of winning a majority in the local assembly, vetoing budgets and potentially forcing to the resignation of the then pro-Beijing leader of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam. Despite warnings from the authorities, 610,000 people voted in the primary, almost a seventh of Hong Kong’s voting age population.
The authorities finally gave up on the assembly election and Beijing established a new political system which strictly controls Hong Kong’s elected officials.
Forty-seven people were initially arrested and subsequently charged in 2021.
The judges ruled that the group would have created a “constitutional crisis” if they had continued their action, and 45 were found guilty of “conspiring to subvert state power.”
Two people acquitted
Two of the defendants, social worker Lee Yue-shun and academic Lawrence Lau, were acquitted in May after judges said they were “not sure whether they intended to subvert.”
Politicians Au Nok-hin, Andrew Chiu, Ben Chung and Australian-Hong Kong activist Gordon Ng, designated as “thinking heads”, were sentenced to up to 7 years and 3 months’ imprisonment.
Australia said it was “gravely concerned” by this conviction, which targets Gordon Ng in particular. “This is a very difficult time for Mr. Ng, his family and his supporters,” said Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who reiterated her “strong objections” to “the continued application vast” of this law encouraged by Beijing.
