HONG KONG — Seven of Hong Kong’s veteran pro-democracy
leaders were found guilty on Thursday of unauthorized assembly, a verdict seen
by their supporters as a severe assault on the freedom of speech and other
civil liberties that once were core to the city’s identity.
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Martin Lee, an 82-year-old barrister known as the “father of
democracy” in Hong Kong; Jimmy Lai, 73, a media tycoon and founder of the staunchly
pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper; and Margaret Ng, 73, a respected barrister
and columnist, along with four others, were convicted of participating in and
organizing an unauthorized march in 2019.
They each face up to five years in prison, and sentences
will be handed down April 16. A severe penalty would be seen by critics of the
government as an attempt to muzzle some of the most prominent and
internationally recognized figures in Hong Kong’s democracy movement. It would
also send a strong message about how the courts may rule in several other
trials this year on similar charges of illegal assembly.
Before the hearing, some of the defendants rallied outside
the court, holding a banner that read, “Oppose Political Persecution; Protest
Political Suppression.” Inside the courtroom, supporters seated in the gallery
cheered them on, shouting: “Keep up your spirits!”
Hong Kong’s authorities have overseen an expansive crackdown
on the pro-democracy movement since the city was engulfed by anti-government
protests in 2019. More than 2,400 people have been charged as the authorities
sought to quash the movement, which had posed the greatest challenge to
Beijing’s rule in decades.
Beijing has sought to depict several of the opposition
figures as subversive elements working with hostile foreign forces to undermine
Chinese sovereignty. Critics of this view say the ruling Communist Party is
only deflecting the true democratic aspirations of the Hong Kong people.
Lee, Lai and Albert Ho, a lawyer and former lawmaker who was
also convicted, have been denounced in Chinese state media as being part of a
“Gang of Four” who stirred unrest in 2019, an accusation at odds with the
largely leaderless movement in the streets.
Human rights advocates were sharply critical of the
convictions, labeling them as part of an effort to undermine the long-running
campaign for democracy in Hong Kong.
“This trial was also about the long history, legacy and
contributions of the elder statesmen and women of the movement,” said Samuel
Chu, the managing director of the Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council.
“It is about discrediting their lifetime contributions to Hong Kong, to the
movement, to workers, to grass-roots, to individuals and their professions.”
The case centered on a rally on August 18, 2019, when
hundreds of thousands of people gathered in an anti-government protest.
That gathering had received police approval. But what
followed did not. The defendants were accused of leading protesters out of
Victoria Park on Hong Kong Island, beginning a march that led toward the core
business district. While there was no violence and minimal disorder,
prosecutors argued that the march violated Hong Kong’s public order ordinance.
Their lawyers argued that leading protesters out of the park,
which had filled with many more people than it could handle, was necessary for
public safety. They also said that imprisoning them over a peaceful march was a
heavy-handed application of the law.
“Of course we are very disappointed with the verdict because
what we have done is only exercising our constitutional right,” one defendant,
the labor leader Lee Cheuk-yan, said after the hearing. “But it’s a badge of
honor for us that we are convicted for walking together with the people of Hong
Kong for democracy and freedom.”
The protests that summer were focused at first on a proposal
to allow extraditions to mainland China but expanded to include demands for
direct elections and an investigation into police use of force.
The prosecution of the city’s pro-democracy leaders over a
peaceful protest has drawn an international outcry. David Perry, a prominent
British barrister who was hired to lead the prosecution, dropped the case after
coming under sharp criticism at home. Dominic Raab, the British foreign
secretary, had said Perry was “pretty mercenary” and was giving the Chinese
government a public relations win.
The State Department, in an annual report on Hong Kong
issued Wednesday, said that the Hong Kong government “did not respect” the
right to free assembly provided under local law, and that by imposing a
national security law last year, China had “dramatically undermined rights and
freedoms in Hong Kong.”
The trial took 20 days, twice as long as had been scheduled.
The others who were convicted Thursday were former lawmakers Cyd Ho and Leung
Kwok-hung.
Another former lawmaker, Au Nok-hin, 33, had previously
pleaded guilty to both charges, while Leung Yiu-chung, 67, had pleaded guilty
to a single charge of participating in the protest.
The authorities have also used a sweeping new national
security law to quash protests and cripple the opposition movement. Forty-seven
pro-democracy politicians and activists have been charged with subversion under
that law for participating in an election primary that prosecutors say was part
of a plan to subvert the government.
Lai, the media tycoon, has been charged in a separate
national security case for allegedly lobbying for American sanctions against
Hong Kong and Chinese officials.
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