Western governments and human rights organisations have condemned yesterday’s jailing of 45 pro-democracy activists by Hong Kong’s High Court.
A former legal academic and a barrister are among the group sentenced for conspiracy to commit subversion. The judgment has been made under the controversial National Security Law (NSL) introduced in Hong Kong in 2020 by Beijing and is the city’s largest national security prosecution to date.
Those convicted were among the ‘Hong Kong 47’ group of activists who were initially arrested and charged over their involvement in an unofficial primary election in July 2020 to choose candidates to stand on the city’s legislative council. Two were acquitted in May this year, while 31 pleaded guilty and 14 have been convicted after trial.
Benny Tai Yiu-ting, a former associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong, was described as the “mastermind” behind the scheme and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. Ex-lawmaker Au Nok-hin and former district councillors Andrew Chiu Ka-yin and Ben Chung Kam-lun were identified as “principal offenders” alongside Tai Yiu-ting and handed jail terms of between six and seven years.
Barrister Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, the former leader of the liberal Civic Party and a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, was sentenced to five years and one month after it was found he had taken “a pro-active and leading role in the Civic Party’s participation of the scheme.”
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Lawyers among 45 pro-democracy activists sentenced to prison by Hong Kong court
