Thousands of people in Hong Kong demonstrate in support of opposition Benny Tai in 2018.
45 activists sentenced to up to 10 years in prison in Hong Kong for opposing the Communist Party. The Chinese state has lost “the people’s trust”.
Benny Tai and Joshua Wong were part of the so-called Hong Kong 47 group, made up of activists and legislators who developed a plan in 2020 to choose opposition candidates for regional elections.
Tai, considered the main offender, was sentenced to 10 years and Wong to more than four years. Another 43 people were convicted, after two were acquitted in May. The total number of prison sentences handed down by judges amounted to more than 240 years, according to .
Joshua Wonga former student leader, even shouted “I love Hong Kong” before leaving the dock following the sentence that condemned him and dozens of others for political subversion.
Judgment marks now the biggest case related to tough national security law (NSL) that China imposed on Hong Kong shortly after the city’s explosive pro-democracy protests in 2019, when thousands of opponents of the regime called for democratic reforms in the city, which has more than 7.5 million inhabitants.
HAS , Sunny Cheungan activist who ran in the 2020 primaries but has since fled to the US, said that “they [o Estado] may be happy in a way because all opposition is being eliminated… but at the same time, they lost their entire generation. They don’t have the people’s trust.”
At the time of these elections, activists argued that their actions were permitted under the Basic Law — a “mini-constitution” that allows some freedoms.
“They never imagined they would be in prison just for criticizing the government,” the former opposition lawmaker told the BBC Ted Huiwho participated in the primaries and later fled to Australia.
According to CNN, since the NSL was implemented, most pro-democracy figures are in prison or self-imposed exilea number of civic groups were disbanded and many independent media outlets were closed. Beijing has also revamped Hong Kong’s political system to ensure that only the most convinced “patriots” can stand for election.
The case has been widely followed by the media, and is now known as “the trial of the Hong Kong 47”. Some countries, such as the USA, have already publicly condemned what happened.
Cited by CNN, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded on Tuesday, accusing “some Western countries” of “interfering in China’s internal affairs and of defaming and undermining the rule of law in Hong Kong.”
