A Hong Kong court has sentenced 45 pro-democracy activists to up to a decade behind bars on Tuesday after it ruled in a landmark legal case that they had broken a national security law implemented by Beijing.
The activists had all taken part in an informal primary poll in 2020, which Hong Kong's government said was a violation of Beijing's broad national security law.
The case began in January 2021, when more than four dozen activists were rounded up in a mass police sweep. Forty-seven people were ultimately charged under the national security law with subversion of state power, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
In a May ruling, a court cleared two of those charged and scheduled sentencing for this week. Most of the 45 people sentenced on Tuesday had already spent nearly four years behind bars.
Long lines formed outside the Hong Kong courthouse Tuesday morning as the 45 activists were sentenced. Only five spectators were eventually allowed in the courtroom.
Benny Tai, professor turned activist, received the longest sentence of a decade. He and other politicians and activists strategized on how to win local elections after an encouraging slate of victories in 2019, with the idea of pushing through direct democracy reforms that way. They held an informal primary poll in 2020 to pick the most popular candidates.
Although the city's authorities warned voting in the primaries could be a violation of the national security law, more than 600,000 people took part anyway.
The official local elections were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Later, further changes approved by China's legislature gave Beijing more control over how Hong Kong's legislative committee and chief executive are chosen.
"Running in an election and trying to win it is now a crime that can lead to a decade in prison in Hong Kong," said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch. "Today's harsh sentences against dozens of prominent democracy activists reflect just how fast Hong Kong's civil liberties and judicial independence have nosedived in the past four years since the Chinese government imposed the draconian National Security Law on the city."
The rulings drew quick international reaction, including from the Australian government. "We call for China to cease suppression of freedoms of expression, assembly, media and civil society," the Australian government said in a statement. A dual Hong Kong-Australian citizen, Gordon Ng was given a 7-year, 3-month sentence.
Tai, the professor turned activist, had also been a key organizer behind the 2014 demonstrations that came to be called the Umbrella Movement. In an essay published in 2013, he called on students and residents to occupy downtown Hong Kong to demand direct elections of the city's chief executive. Beijing ultimately did not need that demand and the protests fizzled out.
Among those sentenced Tuesday was Joshua Wong, who rose to prominence as a teenage student leader during the 2014 Umbrella Movement. He was given a 4-year, 8-month sentence.
Others sentenced included former journalist Gwyneth Ho, who received a 7-year sentence, and Owen Chow, a nursing student and protester who took part in an informal primary poll and who received 7 years and 9 months in prison.
"This is a hostile demonstration of determined repression against Hong Kongers who dare to stand up and speak out for their rights," said Anna Kwok, director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council, an advocacy organization headquartered in Washington, D.C.
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