Hong Kong jails 45 activists in biggest national security case

Hong Kong's High Court on Tuesday jailed 45 pro-democracy activists for up to 10 years following a landmark national security trial.

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 and had faced sentences of up to life in prison.

Benny Tai, a former legal scholar identified as an "organiser" of the activists, was sentenced to 10 years in jail, the longest sentence so far under the 2020 national security law.

Some Western governments have criticised the trial, with the US describing it as "politically motivated" and saying the activists 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 activists have been treated in accordance with local laws.

Closely watched trial

The charges related to the organising of an unofficial "primary election" in 2020 to select the best candidates for an upcoming legislative election.

After a 118 day trial, 14 of the activists were found guilty in May, including Australian citizen Gordon Ng and activist Owen Chow, while two were acquitted. The other 31 pleaded guilty.

Sentences ranged from just over four years to 10 years.

Prominent Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong was sentenced to four years and eight months in jail, while Chow was sentenced to seven years and nine months; former journalist-turned-activist Gwyneth Ho, was sentenced to seven years.

It was not immediately clear whether the defendants - some of whom have already been detained for more than 3-1/2 years - would have this time deducted from their sentences.

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.

Speaking outside the court building, Roxie Houge, the head of the US consulate in Hong Kong's political section, said the US government condemned "the continuous prosecution of individuals here in Hong Kong who are expressing their political views ... exercising their freedom of speech".

China has accused the US of meddling in its internal affairs by supporting Hong Kong activists—whom Beijing views as dissidents engaged in illegal acts—through inappropriate engagement by the US consulate and its diplomats in the city.

In February, US Consul General Gregory May’s speech on Hong Kong’s freedoms was condemned by China as "inappropriate" and a violation of diplomatic "red lines."

In July, the Chinese foreign ministry criticised the US consulate for its remarks on Hong Kong's democracy, accusing it of harboring the “delusion of using Hong Kong to suppress China.”

Critics argue that such actions by the US consulate and its diplomats violate the UN Vienna Convention, which prohibits foreign missions from interfering in the internal affairs of host nations.