HONG KONG – Seven of Hong Kong’s maximum outstanding pro-democracy advocates had a part of their convictions quashed Monday over their roles in some of the largest pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Jimmy Lai, founding father of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper; Martin Lee, the founding chairman of the town’s Democratic Party; and 5 former pro-democracy lawmakers, together with barrister Margaret Ng, were found guilty of organizing and collaborating an unauthorized meeting.
Lai, Lee Cheuk-yan, Leung Kwok-hung and Cyd Ho were jailed between 8 to 18 months. Martin Lee, an octogenarian nicknamed the town’s “Father of Democracy,” Ng and Albert Ho were given suspended jail sentences.
Their convictions two years ago and their sentences were widely seen as another blow to the city’s flagging democracy movement under an unprecedented crackdown by Beijing and Hong Kong authorities.
Judge Andrew Macrae said he and other judges of the Court of Appeal unanimously quashed their convictions over the charge of organizing an unauthorized assembly. But their convictions over taking part in an unauthorized assembly were upheld.
All appellants have served out their sentences for this case. But Lai, Leung, Ho and Lee Cheuk-yan remained in custody as they were also charged under a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020 following the massive protests.
The charges involved a rally in August 2019 that drew an estimated 1.7 million people onto Hong Kong’s streets to call for greater police accountability and democracy. The march was relatively peaceful, compared to other protests that often morphed into violent clashes between police and protesters that year.
The 2019 movement was the city’s most concerted challenge to the Hong Kong government since the former British colony returned to China’s rule in 1997.
The pro-democracy motion waned with the arrests and exiles of democracy activists, the COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide safety legislation.