Hong Kong court docket finds 14 pro-democracy activists responsible of subversion

A Hong Kong court docket has discovered 14 out of 16 pro-democracy activists responsible of conspiracy to commit subversion in a landmark case.

It is the town’s greatest nationwide safety case below a legislation imposed by China that has all however worn out public dissent, following widespread anti-government protests in 2019.

Those discovered responsible embrace former lawmakers Leung Kwok-hung, Lam Cheuk-ting, Helena Wong and Raymond Chan.

They might now face life in jail, with sentencing anticipated at a later date.

But the three judges permitted by the federal government to supervise the case cleared two former district councillors, Lee Yue-shun and Lawrence Lau.

They had been all amongst 47 democracy advocates prosecuted in 2021 for his or her involvement in an unofficial major election, 31 of whom pleaded responsible.

Ahead of the listening to, observers stated their subversion case will illustrate how the safety legislation is getting used to crush political opposition.

But the Beijing and Hong Kong governments insist the legislation has helped carry again stability to the town and that judicial independence is being protected.

The US and different nations have criticised the trial as politically motivated, calling for these charged – lots of whom have been detained since 28 February 2021 – to be launched instantly.

They’re accused of a “vicious plot” to paralyse authorities and power the town’s chief to resign by means of an unofficial pre-selection poll in a July 2020 citywide election.

The democrats keep it was an unofficial try to pick out the strongest candidates in a bid to win a historic majority in Hong Kong’s legislature.

Mass pro-democracy protests erupted in Hong Kong in 2019 in opposition to Beijing’s plans for safety laws, which democrats argued infringed on freedoms assured when Hong Kong was handed again to China by the British in 1997.

Feelings had been excessive at court docket on Thursday, with scores of law enforcement officials and autos patrolling the world, the place diplomats from the UK, US and Europe have attended proceedings.

Some supporters queued in a single day to safe a spot.

“I came because it’s a critical stage and a historical moment,” stated a person who gave solely his surname, Chiu, 35.

The defendants “all stood up for themselves and for Hong Kong people, hoping to make a change”, he added.