Hong Kong’s High Court found 14 of the city’s leading democracy activists guilty of subversion on Thursday under a tough national security law imposed on the city by China four years ago.
They were among 16 defendants on trial. Two of them, former district councilors Lee Yue-shun and Lawrence Lau, were acquitted and released while the 14 were remanded in custody, media reported.
The remaining 31 defendants in the so-called 47 trial had already pleaded guilty to the charge of “conspiracy to commit subversion,” which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
The trial is the biggest ever prosecution of pro-democracy activists in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula meant to preserve the freedoms that have ensured its status as an international financial hub.
Former lawmakers Leung Kwok-hung, Lam Cheuk-ting, Helena Wong and Raymond Chan were among the 14 found guilty by the three government-appointed judges, who took four minutes to deliver the verdict.
Justice Andrew Chan, representing the panel of judges, then adjourned the hearing until the afternoon for “whatever applications that the parties may wish to pursue,” according to the Hong Kong-based English daily South China Morning Post.
The case centers around an unofficial primary election held in July 2020 which the defendants said was intended to pick the best candidates to win a majority in local elections.
Prosecutors said the 47 wanted to paralyze the city’s legislature by winning the power to veto budgets.
The National Security Law was introduced in June 2020. A year earlier mass protests broke out in Hong Kong in opposition to what many residents saw as the erosion of the freedoms guaranteed when Britain returned the territory to China.
Western countries including the United States and Britain have criticized the security law as a setback for freedoms in the city.
Beijing and the city’s government said the law was necessary to prevent outside interference and preserve the stability upon which the city’s economic success is based.
Edited by Taejun Kang.
