In Hong Kong, 45 pro-democracy activists sentenced to prison terms for “subversion”

Local armed forces try to push aside journalists installed in front of the West Kowloon court, where the trial of 45 pro-democracy activists is taking place, in Hong Kong, November 19, 2024. PETER PARKS / AFP Hong Kong justice sentenced, Tuesday November 19, to sentences of up to ten years in prison for the forty-five pro-democracy activists found guilty of “subversion” at the end of the largest trial organized for undermining national security. The United States, Australia and human rights NGOs immediately reacted, denouncing further proof of the erosion of political freedoms in Hong Kong. Lawyer Benny Tai was sentenced to ten years in prison, the harshest sentence handed down to date under the 2020 national security law. Promulgated a year after massive and sometimes violent demonstrations in favor of democracy in this special administrative region (SAR) of China, it represses any subversive voice. All the activists were found guilty of organizing an unofficial primary in 2020 intended to select opposition candidates for the legislative elections. They thus hoped to obtain a majority in the local assembly, veto budgets and potentially force the resignation of the pro-Beijing leader of Hong Kong then in place, Carrie Lam. Read also | Hong Kong presents its new national security law, which complements that imposed by China in 2020 Read later Despite warnings from the authorities, 610,000 people voted in the primary, or nearly a seventh of Hong Kong’s population by age. to vote. The authorities finally gave up on the election of the Assembly and Beijing established a new political system which strictly controls the territory’s elected officials. Australia “gravely concerned” Forty-seven people were initially arrested and then charged in 2021. Of these, 31 had pleaded guilty, 16 were tried in a 118-day trial last year, at resulting in 14 being convicted and two – social worker Lee Yue-shun and academic Lawrence Lau – acquitted in May. The judges ruled that the group would have created a “constitutional crisis” if it had continued its action, and forty-five people were found guilty of “conspiring to subvert state power.” Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers In Hong Kong, justice confirms the elimination of the pro-democracy camp Read later The second longest sentence was inflicted on the young activist Owen Chow who was sentenced to seven years and nine months in prison. The court considered that he had “played a more proactive role in the system than the other accused”. Politicians Au Nok-hin, Andrew Chiu, Ben Chung and Australian-Hong Kong activist Gordon Ng, referred to as the “thinking heads”, were sentenced to up to seven years and three months’ imprisonment. Le Monde Mémorable Test your general knowledge with the editorial staff of “Le Monde” Test your general knowledge with the editorial staff of “Le Monde” Discover Australia has said it is “gravely concerned” by the conviction of Gordon Ng. “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 as vast” of this law encouraged by Beijing. Leung Kwok-hung, 68, co-founder of the city’s last opposition party, the League of Social Democrats (LSD), received a sentence of six years and nine months. The United States “strongly condemns” Read also | In Hong Kong, first convictions of journalists for sedition, linked to the pro-democracy movement Read later The United States “strongly condemned” these prison sentences handed down against activists who had carried out “normal political activity protected by the basic law of Hong Kong” , according to a spokesperson for the consulate. “Today’s harsh sentences reflect the rapidity with which Hong Kong’s civil liberties and judicial independence have collapsed over the past four years,” Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. a press release. Anna Kwok, executive director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council in Washington, condemned “an attack on the very essence of Hong Kong, which aspires to freedom, democracy and the right to political expression.” Le Monde with AFP Reuse this content



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