Hong Kong jails 14 activists for subversion of state power

Hong Kong convicted 14 pro-democracy activists of subversion under the National Security Law for organizing an unofficial primary election, drawing international condemnation.

The Hong Kong authorities have found 14 leaders of the pro-democracy movement guilty of the offense of subversion under the National Security Law introduced by Beijing. The group was among 47 activists prosecuted for seeking to “overthrow” the government through an unlawful primary election in 2020 to elect candidates for the Hong Kong legislature.

Some are ex-legislators like Leung Kwok-hung and Helena Wong, a journalist Gwyneth Ho, and others, such, as nurse Winnie Yu. The court also ruled that if the pro-democracy candidates were to be elected they would have tried to block government budgets hence a constitutional crisis.

These verdicts were met with condemnation from the rights organizations and other nations including the EU, Australia, and the U. S describing the prosecutions as politically motivated and a rollback of the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong. The government of China defended the verdicts as an attempt to bring order and accused outsiders of interference in Chinese business.

The mass charges and convictions are the largest crackdown on Hong Kong democracy activists since Beijing enacted the National Security Law in 2020 to curb the demonstrations. Over 290 people have been arrested under the law for actions that Beijing terms as secessionist or seditious.

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The sentencing of the 14 convicted activists hasn’t been determined but subversion carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. 31 other people had earlier been convicted after they had pleaded guilty. Critics have contended that the non-jury trial and the absence of bail demonstrate how the security law undermines the former strengths of Hong Kong as an open political city and the rule of law.