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CNA
6 days ago
- Politics
- CNA
Appeal for 12 Hong Kong activists concludes amid unfair trial claims
HONG KONG: An appeal hearing for 12 activists convicted of subversion under Hong Kong's national security law ended earlier than expected on Thursday (Jul 17), with two defence lawyers arguing that their clients had not received a fair trial. The appeal stems from the "47 democrats" case, named for the number of activists who were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit subversion in 2021. 45 of the defendants were jailed last year for holding an unofficial primary election in July 2020, soon after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law in response to protests the year before. Their sentences ranged between four to 10 years. Two were acquitted, while 12 appealed the conviction on July 14. Judge Jeremy Poon said on Thursday that the judgment would be made within nine months given the case's complexity. After that, it would still be possible to seek an appeal to Hong Kong's highest court. Government prosecutor Andy Lo said on Thursday that the case involved "an unprecedented conspiracy". Erik Shum, representing former lawmakers Helena Wong and Lam Cheuk-ting, said "the court sentencing process was wrong in principle, and hence the ultimate sentence was incorrect and it should be toned down". Wong was sentenced to 6 years and 6 months while Lam was sentenced to 6 years and nine months. During the four-day hearing, two defence lawyers argued on Wednesday that the three judges who presided over the earlier trial had frequently interrupted some defendants during cross-examination. "The trial court was interventionist from very early on," said Robert Pang, a lawyer for unionist Winnie Yu. He said that the court repeatedly disallowed questions on grounds of irrelevance. Lawyer Steven Kwan said his client, activist Owen Chow did not receive a fair trial as "his evidence was disbelieved very early on". He also said the judges posed 45 per cent of all the questions put to Chow, who was later sentenced to 7 years and 9 months. Prosecutor Derek Lau said judges had the right to ask questions, noting it was not a jury trial. "There is no unfairness that can be observed, that is to the prejudice of the defender in these questions," Lau said. Prosecutors had said the defendants sought to paralyse the government and force the city's leader to resign by securing a legislative majority to indiscriminately veto budget proposals. Under Article 52 of Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, the chief executive must step down if the legislature twice rejects the government's budget. Lawyer Trevor Beel, representing activist Gwyneth Ho, said on Wednesday that legislators had a duty to use whatever legitimate means to negotiate with the government and that the Basic Law allows for a budget not to be passed. Hong Kong was handed back to China by Britain in 1997 with a promise of freedom and autonomy under the "one country, two systems" framework, and eventual universal suffrage under the Basic Law. If Ho wanted to achieve dual universal suffrage and an effective legislature, then it "was not radical, and this is not against the principle of one country, two systems," Beel said.
South China Morning Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong 47: court expected to rule on appeals in 9 months' time
A Hong Kong appellate court is expected to rule in nine months' time on appeals arising from the city's largest national security trial , as lawyers wrapped up their verbal submissions on Thursday after 3½ days of hearings. Legal counsel urged three Court of Appeal judges to impose lighter sentences on 11 appellants for what the trial court found to be their 'active participation' in a subversive scheme to 'undermine, destroy or overthrow' the government. Prosecutors opposed the applications by highlighting the 'unprecedented' nature of the conspiracy and the intended breach of legislators' public duty, saying the appellants' acts deserved stiff penalties under the national security law 's sentencing regime. The appeal proceedings at West Kowloon Court arose from the high-profile case in which 45 of 47 defendants were convicted and jailed for at least four years and two months for conspiracy to subvert state power. Three Court of First Instance judges ruled last year that the group, by organising and taking part in an unofficial 'primary' election in July 2020, attempted to secure a controlling majority in the Legislative Council and create a 'constitutional crisis' by indiscriminately blocking the government's budgets. Former lawmakers Helena Wong Pik-wan, Lam Cheuk-ting, Raymond Chan Chi-chuen and 'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung are seeking to overturn their convictions.
CNA
14-07-2025
- Politics
- CNA
Hong Kong court hears appeals by jailed democracy campaigners
HONG KONG: A Hong Kong court began hearing appeals on Monday (Jul 14) from 12 democracy campaigners jailed for subversion last year during the city's largest national security trial. They were among 45 opposition figures, including some of Hong Kong's best-known democracy activists, who were sentenced in November over a 2020 informal primary election that authorities deemed a subversive plot. Critics including the United States, Britain and the European Union said the case showed how a Beijing-imposed national security law has eroded freedoms and quashed peaceful opposition in Hong Kong. Ex-lawmakers "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung, Lam Cheuk-ting, Helena Wong and Raymond Chan are among those contesting their convictions and sentences in hearings that are scheduled to last 10 days. Owen Chow, a 28-year-old activist who was sentenced to seven years and nine months in jail - the harshest penalty among the dozen - has also lodged an appeal. Former district councillor Michael Pang withdrew his appeal application on Monday morning, leaving a total of 12 appellants. Some of them have already spent more than four years behind bars. The activists were accused of organising or taking part in an unofficial primary election that aimed to improve the pro-democracy camp's chances of winning a majority in the legislature. They had hoped, once a majority was secured, to force the government to accede to demands such as universal suffrage by threatening to indiscriminately veto the budget - a plan that trial judges said would have caused a "constitutional crisis". Defence lawyer Erik Shum said that vetoing the budget was a form of "check and balance" built into Hong Kong's mini-constitution that lawmakers could deploy as a last resort. "In order to check the unpopular exercise of powers by the executive, one of the important measures is to tie the purse," he told the court. Shum said lawmakers should not be answerable to the courts over how they vote because of the separation of powers. PROSECUTORS SEEK REVERSAL Prosecutors also challenged the acquittal of lawyer Lawrence Lau, one of two people found not guilty in May 2024 from an original group of 47 accused. Lau's "overall conduct" showed that he was party to the conspiracy and he should be tried again because the lower court made the wrong factual finding, the prosecution said. Lau, representing himself, said the trial court's findings should not be "casually interfered" with. "I have never advocated for the resignation of the chief executive, I have never advocated the indiscriminate vetoing of the financial budget," Lau told the court, referring to core tenets of the alleged conspiracy. Beijing has remoulded Hong Kong in its authoritarian image after imposing a sweeping national security law in 2020 following months of huge, and sometimes violent, demonstrations. Authorities arrested figures from a broad cross-section of the city's opposition in morning raids in 2021, the group later being dubbed the "Hong Kong 47". Aged between 27 and 69, they included democratically elected lawmakers and district councillors, as well as unionists, academics and others ranging from modest reformists to radical localists. Dozens of police officers were deployed outside the West Kowloon court building on Monday morning as people queued to attend the hearing. "They made a sacrifice ... I hope they understand that Hongkongers have not forgotten them," said a public hospital worker in his thirties surnamed Chow. Amnesty International's China director Sarah Brooks said the appeal would be a "pivotal test" for free expression in the Chinese finance hub.
