A Hong Kong court has sentenced key pro-democracy leaders to years in prison for coup d’état, following a nationwide security trial.
Activists Benny Tai and Joshua Wong were among the self-proclaimed Hong Kong 47 group that participated in the process of nominating candidates for the local elections. Tai got 10 years and Wong got more than four years.
47 activists, opposition legislators and ordinary people were charged with organizing or participating in the scheme. Most were found guilty of attempted coup d’état, and two were released.
Their trial marked the largest application of the strict national security law China imposed on Hong Kong shortly after the city’s pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Observers say this significantly weakens the city’s pro-democracy and rule-of-law movements, and allows China to tighten its grip on the city. The US described the trial as “politically motivated”.
Governments in Beijing and Hong Kong say the law is necessary to maintain stability and deny it weakens autonomy. They also said that the conviction is a warning to forces that try to undermine China’s national security.
The case attracted a lot of attention from Hongkongers, many of whom lined up outside the court days before the sentencing to get a place in the public gallery.
In 2020, hundreds of thousands of Hongkongers voted in the unofficial Legislative Council elections. It was organized by pro-democracy activists to increase the opposition’s ability to block the debt of the pro-Beijing government.
These activists said their actions were legal. But the officials accused the activists of trying to “overthrow” the government, and the judges in their decision agreed with the prosecutors’ argument that the plan would create a constitutional problem.
On Tuesday, the court handed down sentences ranging from four to ten years. Tai, the former law professor who came up with the plan for the illegal elementary school, received the longest sentence.
Other prominent pro-democracy figures convicted include former journalist-turned-politician Gwyneth Ho, and former MPs Claudia Mo and Leung Kwok-hung. They received sentences ranging from four to seven years in prison.
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