Police stand guard outside the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts building, before the sentencing against the 45 convicted pro-democracy activists charged under the national security law, in Hong Kong. Photo: Reuters
Hong Kong’s High Court on Tuesday jailed 45 pro-democracy activists for up to 10 years following a landmark national security trial that has damaged the city’s once feisty democracy movement and drawn criticism from the U.S. and other countries.
A total of 47 pro-democracy activists were arrested and charged in 2021 with conspiracy to commit subversion under a Beijing-imposed national security law which carried sentences of up to life in prison.
Benny Tai, a former legal scholar identified in the judgement as a “mastermind” of the activists' plans, was sentenced to 10 years in jail, the longest sentence so far under the 2020 national security law.
The charges related to the organising of an unofficial “primary election” in 2020 to select the best candidates for an upcoming legislative election. The activists were accused by prosecutors of plotting to paralyse the government by engaging in potentially disruptive acts had they been elected.
Some Western governments have criticised the trial, with the U.S. describing it as “politically motivated”, opens new tab and saying the democrats should be released as they had been legally and peacefully participating in political activities.
The Chinese and Hong Kong governments say the national security laws were necessary to restore order after mass pro-democracy protests in 2019, and the democrats have been treated in accordance with local laws.
CLOSELY WATCHED TRIAL
After a 118-day trial, 14 of the democrats were found guilty in May, including Australian citizen Gordon Ng and activists Owen Chow and Gwyneth Ho, while two were acquitted.
The other 31 pleaded guilty and all 45 were given sentences ranging from 4-10 years.
“Our true crime for Beijing is that we were not content with playing along in manipulated elections,” Ho, who was sentenced to seven years imprisonment, wrote in a Facebook post.
“We dared to confront the regime with the question: will democracy ever be possible within such a structure? The answer was a complete crackdown on all fronts of society.”
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she was “gravely concerned” about the sentences, and called on China to “cease suppression of freedoms of expression, assembly, media and civil society,” in Hong Kong.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters that “no one can engage in illegal activities in the name of democracy and attempt to escape legal punishment”, adding that Beijing “firmly supports” Hong Kong’s efforts to safeguard national security.
Chow was sentenced to seven years and nine months in jail, while prominent activist Joshua Wong was sentenced to four years and eight months in jail, and Hendrick Lui was sentenced to more than four years in jail.
Afterwards, Lui’s mother Elsa Wu shouted: “He’s a good person … he’s not a political prisoner … why does he have to go to jail?”
Lawyers for some defendants who’ve been detained for more than 3 1/2 years - said they expected to have this time deducted from the sentences, meaning some could be released next year.
CROWDED COURTROOMS
The judges Andrew Chan, Alex Lee and Johnny Chan wrote that in passing sentence they considered factors including the degree of planning, the number of people involved, the potential harms generated, in a “holistic assessment” irrespective of whether the scheme would have taken place or not.
“In order to succeed, the organisers and participants might have hurdles to overcome, that however was expected in every subversion case where efforts were made to overthrow or paralyse a government. We therefore rejected the proposition that the Scheme was doomed to fail and that a lighter sentence should be imposed,” the judges wrote.
The judges, however, granted a one-third reduction in the sentences for some who pleaded guilty, including Tai.
Hundreds of people had queued from the early hours outside the court, many holding umbrellas in light rain as they tried to secure a seat within the main courtroom and several spillover courts.
Authorities deployed a tight police presence outside the West Kowloon Magistrates' Court and for several blocks in the vicinity with police dogs, an armoured truck and vehicles with lights flashing. Some people were searched and questioned.
“I feel such an injustice needs witnessing,” said one woman who gave her name as Margaret and had been in the queue since Sunday afternoon. “They (the democrats) need to know they still have public support.”
The ruling, which critics have said tarnishes Hong Kong’s role as a global financial hub, comes as the city is hosting an international financial summit to attract more business.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee as secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has been a staunch critic of the trial and in an earlier open letter, opened a new tab criticised the convictions as evidence of the national security law’s “comprehensive assault on Hong Kong’s autonomy, rule of law, and fundamental freedoms.”
Speaking outside the court building, Roxie Houge, the head of the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong’s political section, said the U.S. government condemned “the continuous prosecution of individuals here in Hong Kong who are expressing their political views ... exercising their freedom of speech.”
Taiwan’s presidential office condemned the jailings, saying democracy and freedom are universal values and Taiwan will continue to stand in solidarity with Hong Kong.
香港高等法院判處45名民主活動人士最高10年監禁
香港高等法院週二對 45 名民主活動人士判處最高 10 年監禁。
2021 年，共有 47 名民主活動人士被捕，並被指控串謀顛覆國家安全，最高可判處無期徒刑。
前法律學者戴耀廷在判決中被認定為活動人士計劃的“主謀”，被判處 10 年監禁，這是 2020 年國家安全法迄今為止最長的刑期。
這些指控與在 2020 年組織一次非正式的「初選」有關，以便為即將舉行的立法選舉選出最佳候選人。 檢察官指控這些活動人士密謀在當選後從事潛在的破壞性行為，使政府陷入癱瘓。
一些西方政府批評了這次審判，美國稱其為“出於政治動機”，並表示民主黨人應該被釋放，因為他們一直合法、和平地參與政治活動。
中國和香港政府表示，在 2019 年大規模民主抗議活動之後，國家安全法對於恢復秩序是必要的，民主黨人也受到了當地法律的對待。
密切關注審判
經過118 天的審判，14 名民主黨人於5 月被判有罪，其中包括澳大利亞公民吳戈登(Gordon Ng) 以及活動人士周歐文(Owen Chow) 和何格溫妮絲(Gwyneth Ho)，另外兩人被無罪釋放。
其他 31 人認罪，所有 45 人均被判處 4 至 10 年徒刑。
「我們對北京的真正罪行是，我們不滿足於參與被操縱的選舉，」被判處七年監禁的何在 Facebook 貼文中寫道。
「我們敢於向政權提出這樣的問題：在這樣的結構中民主是否可能實現？ 答案是對社會各方面進行徹底鎮壓。
澳洲外交部長黃英賢表示，她對這些判決“嚴重關切”，並呼籲中國“停止壓製香港的言論、集會、媒體和公民社會自由”。
中國外交部發言人林健告訴記者，“任何人都不能打著民主的旗號從事非法活動並試圖逃避法律懲罰”，並補充說北京“堅定支持”香港維護國家安全的努力。
周先生被判處七年零九個月監禁，著名活動家黃之鋒被判處四年八個月監禁，呂亨德里被判處四年以上監禁。
隨後，雷的母親吳艾莎大喊：“他是個好人……他不是政治犯……為什麼他要進監獄？”
一些被拘留超過 3 1/2 年的被告的律師表示，他們預計這次的刑期會被扣除，這意味著一些人可能會在明年被釋放。
擁擠的法庭
法官安德魯·陳（Andrew Chan）、亞歷克斯·李（Alex Lee）和約翰尼·陳（Johnny Chan）寫道，在判刑時，他們考慮了包括計劃程度、涉及人數、產生的潛在危害等因素，進行“整體評估”，無論該計劃是否會發生或不發生。
「為了取得成功，組織者和參與者可能需要克服障礙，但在每一個旨在推翻或癱瘓政府的顛覆案件中，這是預料之中的。 因此，我們拒絕了該計劃注定要失敗、應判處較輕刑罰的主張，」法官們寫道。
然而，法官對包括戴某在內的一些認罪者減刑了三分之一。
數百人從凌晨起就在法庭外排隊，許多人在小雨中撐著雨傘，試圖在主法庭和幾個溢出法庭內找到座位。
當局在西九龍裁判法院外及附近幾個街區部署了嚴密警力，包括警犬、裝甲車和閃爍燈光的車輛。 一些人被搜查和詢問。
「我覺得這樣的不公正需要見證，」一位自稱瑪格麗特的女士說，她自周日下午以來一直在排隊。 “他們（民主黨）需要知道他們仍然得到公眾的支持。”
批評人士稱，這項裁決損害了香港作為全球金融中心的地位，而該裁決正值香港舉辦國際金融高峰會以吸引更多業務之際。
美國候任總統唐納德·川普提名的國務卿馬可·盧比奧一直是該審判的堅定批評者，他在早些時候的一封公開信中批評這些定罪，稱其為國家安全法“全面侵犯香港自治”的證據、法治和基本自由。”
美國駐香港總領事館政治處處長羅克西·豪格(Roxie Houge)在法院大樓外發表講話時表示，美國政府譴責“香港持續起訴表達政治觀點的個人……行使言論自由” ”。
台灣總統府譴責了這些監禁行為，稱民主和自由是普世價值，台灣將繼續與香港站在一起。
Source: Reuters
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