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Pro-democracy activist Benny Tai has been jailed for 10 years over organising an unofficial primary election in 2020, as Hong Kong’s High Court delivered sentences in the city’s largest national security case to date.
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Benny Tai arrives at Ma On Shan police station in Hong Kong on February 28, 2021, where he and 46 other dissidents were each charged with one count of “conspiracy to commit subversion” under the city’s new national security law. Photo: Isaac Lawrence/AFP.
Tai was among 45 pro-democracy figures sentenced on Tuesday after being convicted of conspiring to commit subversion, an offence under the Beijing-imposed national security law.
Primary election organisers
Sentence
Benny Tai
10 years
Au Nok-hin
6 years, 9 months
Andrew Chiu
7 years
Ben Chung
6 years, 1 month
Gordon Ng
7 years, 3 months
Au Nok-hin, Andrew Chiu and Ben Chung, who testified for the prosecution against their fellow democrats during trial, were sentenced jail terms of six years and nine months, seven years, and six years and one month, respectively. The trio, along with Tai and Gordon Ng – who received a sentence of seven years and three months – were considered organisers of the primary election.
The second-longest sentence was meted out to activist Owen Chow, who was given seven years and nine months in jail.
Kwok Ka-ki, Jeremy Tam, Claudia Mo, Andy Chui, and Gary Fan received the lowest sentences of four years and two months.
Under Hong Kong’s Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, which was enacted in March to plug “loopholes” left by Beijing’s security legislation, inmates serving time in prison for national security offences are subject to a higher threshold for early release, making remission unlikely.
You’ll Never Walk Alone
The detained democrats began being led into the dock soon after the hearing began at 10 am. The first batch to arrive were the eight female detainees, including former lawmakers Claudia Mo and Helena Wong, and journalist turned activist Gwyneth Ho.
Some wore brightly coloured tops, such as Ho, who donned a pink shirt, and Tiffany Yuen, who was wearing a Liverpool Football Club jersey; the team’s anthem is You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Mo’s husband stood up to wave at her from the public gallery, but was quickly reprimanded by a Judiciary employee, who said: “gentleman sit down please.”
A Correctional Services Department van arrives at the West Kowloon Law Courts on November 19, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
At 10.08 am, the male detainees were also led into the dock. Some waved to the public gallery, while others made the shape of a heart with their hands and gestured to their family members.
The last defendants to be seated were Au, Chiu and Chung. Mike Lam – the only convicted democrat who remained on bail – also testified against his fellow democrats during the trial.
The session was over before 10.30 am. As the defendants were escorted away by the corrections officers, Joshua Wong yelled: “I love Hong Kong, bye bye!”
As the defendants were escorted away by the corrections officers, Joshua Wong yelled: “I love Hong Kong, bye bye!”
‘Constitutional chaos’
At the centre of the case was the July 2020 election primary, through which the opposition camp hoped to identify candidates to help it win majority control of the legislature in an upcoming election.
A panel of three designated national security judges – Andrew Chan, Alex Lee and Johnny Chan – ruled that the democrats had intended to abuse their powers to indiscriminately veto the government budget and force the chief executive to resign if they had indeed won a majority.
A Correctional Services Department van arrives at the West Kowloon Law Courts on November 19, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
In a 319-page judgement in May, the judges wrote that Tai’s goal was to “undermine, destroy or overthrow the existing political system and structure of [Hong Kong] established under the Basic Law and the policy of One Country, Two Systems.” This would have plunged the city into a “constitutional crisis,” they ruled.
Under the national security law, the 45 democrats faced three tiers of penalty depending on their level of participation in the offence. The maximum sentence for subversion is life behind bars, while the minimum sentence is “fixed term imprisonment of not more than three years, short-term detention or restriction.”
