BREAKING: 7 prominent Hong Kong activists cleared of organising 2019 protest
Hong Kong Free Press
A Hong Kong court has cleared seven pro-democracy figures – including media tycoon Jimmy Lai and barristers Martin Lee and Margaret Ng – of organising an anti-extradition bill rally in 2019. However, their convictions and sentences linked to participating in that protest were upheld.
The Court of Appeal on Monday delivered its verdict on the appeal launched by Lai, Martin Lee, Ng, activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Leung Kwok-hung, and former lawmakers Cyd Ho and Albert Ho, who were found guilty of organising and knowingly taking part in an unauthorised assembly on August 18, 2019. They were sentenced in April 2021 to up to 18 months behind bars, but some had their jail terms suspended.
The applicants were cleared of the organising an unauthorised assembly charge and their related sentences, while the charge of knowingly taking part in an unauthorised assembly was upheld.
Consequently, Lai saw his sentence reduced from 12 months to nine, Lee Cheuk-yan’s was reduced from 12 months to six, Leung’s went from 18 months to 12 months, and Cyd Ho had her eight-month sentence, which she had already completed, reduced to five months.
The decision was handed down more than eight months after the appeal application was first heard over several days in November last year. Appeal justices Andrew Colin Macrae, Maggie Poon and Anthea Pang said at the time that they would hand down the ruling within six months.
Lai and Lee Cheuk-yan, who are currently detained, were brought to the court in correctional services vans. Leung, who is also in remand, was not present as he was attending the national security trial involving 47 Hong Kong democrats, in which he is a defendant.
Cyd Ho was not it court on Monday.
‘Water flow’ assembly
On August 18, 2019, the Civil Human Rights Front – which has since disbanded – applied to hold a gathering at Victoria Par to protest against police violence. They also applied to march from the park to Central and hold a second meeting in Central.
Police approved the static assembly at Victoria Park, but banned the march and the Central assembly. Activists later called on the public to join the “water flow” assembly, in which they would enter and leave Victoria Park dynamically.
The appeal applicants argued last November that they could not be considered “organisers” because they were invited by– to help with the event. The water flow arrangement was also part of a safe dispersal plan, said Barrister Audrey Eu who represented the media mogul. She said having a “common purpose” was what constituted a procession, but if the purpose was a safe and orderly dispersal, that could not be considered a procession.
Eu also told the three-judge panel that it was not a case of good luck that there was no “untoward” conduct at the gathering in Victoria Park. Over one million people – according to organiser estimates – entered and exited the park dynamically to rally against the police use of force during the citywide protests sparked by the now-axed extradition bill.
Instead of penalising the seven prominent pro-democracy figures, the court should look at the presence of the democrats as a way of maintaining peace and enabling people to “vent strong feelings at difficult times,” Eu said.
Protests erupted in June 2019 over a since-axed extradition bill. They escalated into sometimes violent displays of dissent against police behaviour, amid calls for democracy and anger over Beijing’s encroachment. Demonstrators demanded an independent probe into police conduct, amnesty for those arrested and a halt to the characterisation of protests as “riots.”
This is a developing story – please refresh for updates…
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