Top pro-democracy leaders have been arrested for coup d'état

A Hong Kong court has sentenced dozens of pro-democracy leaders to years in prison on charges of coup d'état, following a national security trial.

60-year-old Benny Tai and 28-year-old Joshua Wong were among the so-called Hong Kong 47 group of activists and lawmakers involved in the process of selecting candidates for the local elections.

Tai got 10 years and Wong got more than four years. A total of 45 people they were imprisoned for plotting a coup d'état. Two defendants were released in May.

This was the biggest case under the strict national security law (NSL) imposed by China on Hong Kong shortly after the city trial. explosive pro-democracy protests in 2019.

The Beijing and Hong Kong governments deny this, arguing that the NSL is necessary to maintain stability. They also said that these sentences are a warning to those who try to undermine China's national security.

“No one can do illegal things in the name of democracy and try to evade justice,” China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. It also said it was “strongly opposed” to Western countries “undermining the rule of law in Hong Kong”.

The city's pro-democracy campaigners reacted to the sentences with dismay and sadness.

“We are very depressed and their families are devastated,” Emily Lau, former chairwoman of Hong Kong's Democratic Party, told the BBC's Today.

He went on to say that he and many others could not enter the court because it was full. Tuesday's case has attracted a lot of interest from Hongkongers, many of whom have queued in the past days for a place in the public gallery.

Most of the 45 people on trial were icons of the Hong Kong protests. Tai, a law professor, rose to prominence as a key leader back in 2014, Wong was a teenager when he first became an activist, and Gwyneth Ho, a young journalist, was hospitalized after being attacked by a mob during the 2019 protests.

Veteran lawmakers such as Claudia Mo and Leung Kwok-hung, also known as Long Hair, spent much of their time fighting for a free Hong Kong, while early activists such as Owen Chou and Tiffany Yuen stormed the legislative council in a defining moment of the protests.

All were in court from the public which is unusual as many have been in custody since their arrests in early 2021 because pre-trial detention is a common practice under the NSL.

Standing in line on Tuesday was Lee Yue-shun, one of the two defendants released. He told reporters that he wanted to urge Hongkongers to “raise questions” about the case, because “everyone has a chance to be affected” by its outcome.

There were many activists who were waiting to enter the court. Bobo Lam, who was previously arrested under the NSL, said that he is showing support for friends who have been arrested now and “let them know, that there are still many HongKongers who have not forgotten”. Others seemed encouraged by how many people turned up, suggesting they “remember what happened”.

An elderly woman, Regina Fung, sang “everybody sleep there, represent Hong Kong” before the trial. “It's very sad, even the weather in Hong Kong is bad today,” she said.

Inside the court, his family members and friends waved from the court towards the defendants, who appeared calm while sitting in the dock. Others in the gallery wept as the sentences, which ranged from four to 10 years, were read.

Tai, a former law professor who came up with the illegal primaries system, received the longest sentence of all the judges saying he was “fighting for revolution”.

Wong's sentence was reduced by a third after he pleaded guilty. But unlike the other defendants, he was not reduced again as the judges “did not see him as a moral person”. At the time of his arrest, Wong was already in prison for participating in protests.

In court, Wong shouted “I love Hong Kong” before leaving the dock.

As Leung's wife, activist Chan Po-ying, left the courtroom at the end of the trial, she was heard singing against his arrest.

The US described the trial as “politically motivated”. Australia said it had “strong objections” to the use of the NSL and was “deeply concerned” by the conviction of one of its citizens, Gordon Ng.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer opened the case for Jimmy Lai, the billionaire pro-democracy activist in jail, when he met Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the G20 summit on Monday. The 76-year-old suspect is facing charges of treason

“I really hope that the British government, the prime minister, will stand up for the rights they have promised to the people of Hong Kong. All these promises, these rights and the law are disappearing,” Ms. Lau told the BBC. He asked why organizing an election should give jail time.

After the 2019 protests subsided due to the Covid pandemic, the defendants organized an illegal basis for the Legislative Council elections as a means of furthering the democratic movement.

Their aim was to increase the opposition's ability to block the debt of the pro-Beijing government. More than half a million Hongkongers turned out to vote in the primary elections held in July 2020.

Organizers argued at the time that their actions were permitted under Hong Kong's Basic Law – a narrow constitution that allows certain freedoms. “They never thought they would go to jail just for criticizing the government”, former opposition lawyer Ted Hui, who took part in the primary and later fled to Australia, told BBC Newsday.

But it alarmed officials in Beijing and Hong Kong, who warned the move could violate the NSL, which came into effect just days before the start. They accused the activists of trying to “overthrow” the government, and were arrested in early 2021.

At the end of the trial, the judges agreed with the prosecution's contention that the plan would create a constitutional problem.

“The authorities are using this case to re-educate Hong Kong people,” said John P Burns, professor emeritus at the University of Hong Kong. The lesson is “national security is a national priority; don't challenge it with national security”.

“The case is important because it provides a clue into the life of Hong Kong's legal system,” he told the BBC. “How can it be illegal to follow the procedures laid down in the Basic Law?”

A spokesperson for Human Rights Watch said that China and Hong Kong “have now significantly increased the cost of promoting democracy in Hong Kong”.

Stephan Ortmann, assistant professor of politics at Hong Kong Metropolitan University, agreed. Tuesday's sentence “sets an example of the severity of punishments for political dissent under the NSL”, he added. “introspection has become the norm”.

But this is not a victory for Beijing, said Sunny Cheung, an activist who ran in the 2020 primary but has since fled to the US. “They may be happy in a way because all the opposition is being eliminated… but people don't have trust.”

Others like Ms. Lau said the city had lost more than a generation of pro-democracy campaigners.

There has been “no permission for marches and protests in the last few years – very quiet, very peaceful,” she said.

“But that's not Hong Kong. If you've been to Hong Kong, you know it's a city of protest. It's colorful, it's vibrant, but it's not like that anymore.”