Hong Kong’s pro-democracy motion suffered a heavy blow on Thursday when 9 veteran activists had been convicted over an enormous rally in 2019.
Hong Kong District Court discovered seven democrats, together with 82-year-old barrister Martin Lee and media tycoon Jimmy Lai, responsible of organizing and collaborating in an unauthorized meeting.
Other defendants embrace outstanding barrister and former opposition lawmaker Margaret Ng and veteran activists Lee Cheuk-yan, Leung-kwok-hung, Albert Ho, and Cyd Ho.
“We will continue the struggle,” mentioned Lee Cheuk-yan on Thursday.
Two others, Au Nok-hin and Leung Yiu-chung, had beforehand pleaded responsible.
The activists had been convicted for his or her involvement in an enormous protest held on August 18, 2019, the place almost 1.7 million folks marched towards a proposed invoice that will enable for legal suspects to be extradited to mainland China for trial.
Democrats beneath the scanner
Martin Lee, typically known as Hong Kong’s “father of democracy,” helped launch the previous British colony’s largest opposition Democratic Party within the Nineties. He could possibly be jailed for 12-18 months, in line with some authorized consultants.
Media entrepreneur Lai was arrested in August after some 200 law enforcement officials raided the newsroom of his Apple Daily tabloid.
He has already been charged on suspicion of colluding with international powers and endangering nationwide safety.
Lai is one among a number of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists who’ve been charged beneath the not too long ago accepted nationwide safety regulation. The regulation was handed in June final yr by pro-Beijing lawmakers in Hong Kong and is seen by many as a way of cracking down on dissent.
The activists, other than those that have been remanded in custody on different expenses, had been granted bail on situation they don’t go away Hong Kong. They should all relinquish their journey paperwork.
Mitigation pleas shall be heard earlier than sentences are given when the group subsequent seem in court docket on April 16.
Taking half in an illegal meeting in Hong Kong can lead to as much as 10 years in jail.
Defiance for democracy
On the eve of Thursday’s ruling, DW’s Taipei correspondent, William Yang, performed an interview with Lee Cheuk-yan, who remained defiant, regardless of the jail risk, as he mentioned: “They can jail us, but they can’t jail our spirit.”
With many suggesting Hong Kong is turning into like China, 64-year-old Lee, a former legislator who has be an activist throughout 4 many years, mentioned there may be nonetheless hope.
“We are getting very close to the system of China but not yet,” he mentioned. “We must hold on to the very narrow space that we have. Although things are getting very difficult in Hong Kong and it seems that both the legal system and political system are looking more like the ones in China, I think we still have a very strong civil society and we need to hold onto that.”
Finally, Lee known as on the worldwide group “to fight for values and fight for what you believe in, not to compromise for the sake of economic return. I think for the people in Hong Kong, we will keep fighting, we will keep the spirit going and keep lighting the candles to show the way forward even in a very dark tunnel. We hope the world can see our light and stand with us.”
