A Hong Kong court found 14 pro-democracy activists guilty of subversion on May 30, 2024, Nikkei Asia reported.

This is the biggest case — known as the 47 democrats case — against pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong since China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020.

Background

China imposed the law following the mass protests in 2019 and 2020, the largest in Hong Kong's history, which started with protests against the introduction of a bill that would allow to extraditions to mainland China.

47 out of 53 arrested were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion in January 2021, where a majority have remained in police custody since, and the criminal trial is known as the 47 democrats case.

Their trial begin in March 2021 and was held without a jury and the judges were chosen from a pool of jurists handpicked by Hong Kong's leader

Prosecutors accused the 47 of attempting to bring down the government by holding unofficial primary polls in July 2020 to form a majority in the legislature.

Prosecutors claimed that with a majority, the 47 could force Hong Kong's leader to resign among other things.

The activists, on the other hand, maintained that it was an unofficial attempt to select the strongest candidates for a citywide election in a bid to win a historic majority in Hong Kong’s legislature.

Court found 14 activists guilty

16 of the 47 pro-democracy activists pleaded not guilty, but 14 were found guilty and two were acquitted on May 30.

In delivering the verdict, the judges said the 14 had planned to undermine "the power and authority of both the government and chief executive".

The judges added that had the 47 succeeded, it would have created "a constitutional crisis for Hong Kong” and led to "serious interfering in, disrupting or undermining the performance of duties and functions in accordance with the law by the (Hong Kong) government".

The 14 activists are expected to be sentenced later in 2024, and could face prison terms ranging from three years to life.

31 other activists pleaded guilty in hopes for lenient sentences.

Case watched closely

Diplomats from the United States, France, Britain, Italy and the European Union attended the hearing of the 47 activists case AFP reported.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement on May 30 that her government was "deeply concerned" with the verdicts and would continue to seek consular access to Gordon Ng, an Australian citizen and one of those convicted.

"Australia has expressed our strong objections to the Hong Kong authorities on the continuing broad application of national security legislation to arrest and pressure pro-democracy figures."

Related stories

Top image by Iris Tong