HONG KONG: A Hong Kong court found seven prominent democrats guilty of unauthorised assembly charges, including 82-year-old barrister Martin Lee and media tycoon Jimmy Lai, as part of an intensifying crackdown by China on its freest city.
Lee, who helped launch the city's largest opposition Democratic Party in the 1990s and is often called the former British colony's "father of democracy," was accused of taking part in an unauthorised assembly on Aug. 18, 2019.
The silver-haired Lee and the others sat impassively as district court judge Amanda Woodcock handed down her decision.
"I have found after trial the prosecution able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that all of the defendants together organised what amounted to an unauthorised assembly," the district court judge noted in the full written judgement.
They were also found guilty of knowingly participating in an unauthorised assembly.
Although Hong Kong's mini-constitution guarantees the right to peaceful assembly, Woodcock added, "restrictions are imposed, including those for preserving public safety and public order, and protecting the rights of others."
Sentencing will come later, with some legal experts expecting jail terms of 12-18 months. The maximum possible sentence is 5 years.
The other defendants included prominent barrister Margaret Ng and veteran democrats Lee Cheuk-yan, Leung Kwok-hung, Albert Ho, Cyd Ho. Two others, Au Nok-hin and Leung Yiu-chung had earlier pleaded guilty.
A small group of supporters displayed banners outside the West Kowloon court building, including one that read "Oppose Political Persecution".
"We will continue the struggle," said Lee Cheuk-yan, 64, just before entering court.
During the trial, defence lawyers argued that freedom of assembly is a constitutional right in Hong Kong, and noted that police had approved the peaceful demonstration in the city's downtown Victoria Park, which grew into an unauthorised march as numbers swelled into the hundreds of thousands.
The prosecution argued that the freedom of assembly isn't absolute in Hong Kong.
Critics, including Western governments, have condemned the arrests of Lee and other democrats amid the ongoing crackdown. 47 other high-profile democratic campaigners are facing subversion charges under the national security law, and have mostly been denied bail and are being held in detention.
The U.S. said on Wednesday that Hong Kong does not warrant preferential treatment under the Hong Kong Policy Act, a law that had allowed Washington to maintain a special relationship with the city.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a news release that China had "severely undermined the rights and freedoms of people in Hong Kong", through arbitrary arrests and politically motivated prosecutions as well as "pressure on judicial independence and academic and press freedoms."
The 2019 pro-democracy protests were spurred by Beijing's tightening squeeze on wide-ranging freedoms promised to Hong Kong upon its return to Chinese rule in 1997, and plunged the semi-autonomous city into its biggest crisis since the handover.
Beijing has since imposed a sweeping national security law, punishing anything it deems as secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.
Since the law's promulgation, the government has sought to crush the opposition movement, barred protests and curbed political expression, and overhauled the city's electoral system to ensure only pro-China "patriots" govern Hong Kong.
Hong Kong and Chinese authorities, however, say the security law and electoral reforms are needed to restore stability and to resolve "deep-seated" problems, and that human rights will be safeguarded.
Reuters
Thu Apr 01 2021
Democratic Party founder and barrister Martin Lee and Albert Ho arrive at the West Kowloon Courts for verdicts in landmark unlawful assembly case, in Hong Kong, China April 1, 2021. REUTERS pic
20 tentera maut, gudang peluru di Kemboja meletup
Sebuah gudang peluru tentera meletup pada Sabtu membunuh sekurang-kurangnya 20 tentera dan mencederakan beberapa yang lain di tengah Kemboja.
Tumpuan Isnin - 29 April 2024
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan di Astro AWANI.
Jadikan ASEAN sebagai pusat pertumbuhan utama- Pakar
ASEAN mempunyai potensi untuk menjadi pusat pertumbuhan ekonomi yang kukuh, inklusif dan mampan.
Menurut penganalisis ekonomi, Fithra Faisal, negara-negara besar khususnya harus tundukkan 'ego' mereka dan bekerja bersama dengan anggota ASEAN untuk memperkukuhkan lagi ekonomi negara.
Menurut penganalisis ekonomi, Fithra Faisal, negara-negara besar khususnya harus tundukkan 'ego' mereka dan bekerja bersama dengan anggota ASEAN untuk memperkukuhkan lagi ekonomi negara.
Bill Gates sambut baik dana $500 juta dari Arab Saudi
Pengasas Microsoft, Bill Gates mengalu-alukan bantuan $500 juta dolar dari Arab Saudi dalam usaha memerangi penyakit polio bagi tempoh lima tahun akan datang.
Hanya US boleh halang Israel terus serang Rafah- Mahmoud Abbas
Rafah menjadi tempat lebih sejuta rakyat Palestin berlindung daripada serangan berterusan Israel, sejak tujuh bulan lalu.
Anwar tekan kepentingan sokong pengiktirafan negara Palestin di PBB
Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim menekankan kepentingan menyokong pengiktirafan negara Palestin di Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) ketika bertemu rakan sejawatnya dari Jordan, Bisher Hani Al-Khasawneh, di luar mesyuarat khas Forum Ekonomi Sedunia (WEF) di Riyadh Arab Saudi pada Ahad.
Muhammad Hakim Danish naik podium di GP Sepanyol
Pelumba muda negara Muhammad Hakim Danish Ramli mempamerkan peningkatan prestasi apabila menamatkan perlumbaan 2 Grand Prix (GP) Sepanyol bagi saingan Rookies Cup di kedudukan podium hari ini.
10 Berita Pilihan - (28 April 2024)
Antara pelbagai berita dalam dan luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
AWANI Ringkas: Inspektor ditahan kerja
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Ratu cantik Malaysia Harveen Kaur tawan Puncak Mera namun hilang jari akibat luka beku
Puncak Mera yang berketinggian 6,470 meter dari paras laut itu mampu memberi cabaran hebat meskipun kepada pendaki paling berpengalaman.
WHO perbaharui gesaan untuk lindungi hospital Gaza
Ketua Pengarah WHO Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, memperbaharui gesaan agar memberikan perlindungan kepada semua hospital di Semenanjung Gaza.
Ketua WHO gesa perlindungan kemudahan penjagaan kesihatan semasa konflik
Ghebreyesus berkata kerosakan kemudahan penjagaan kesihatan dan kakitangan WHO telah menjadi norma, seperti yang dilihat di Gaza, Sudan dan Ethiopia.
Hospital Al-Shifa umpama cangkerang kosong dengan pusara manusia - WHO
Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO) berkata kemusnahan Hospital Al-Shifa menjadikannya umpama sebuah cangkerang kosong dengan pusara manusia susulan kepungan dan serangan Israel.
Malaysia laksana program pendidikan kesihatan menyeluruh, pupuk amalan berlandaskan pencegahan
Malaysia melaksanakan program pendidikan kesihatan yang menyeluruh untuk memupuk amalan penjagaan kesihatan berlandaskan pencegahan serta kesedaran kepentingan mendapatkan rawatan perubatan awal.
9,000 pesakit memerlukan pemindahan kecemasan dari Gaza
Hanya 10 hospital yang berfungsi secara minimum di seluruh Gaza dan beribu-ribu pesakit gagal mendapat penjagaan kesihatan.
Kebuluran di Gaza dijangka tidak dapat dielakkan - WHO
Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO) berkata analisis terkini daripada Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) mencerminkan keadaan yang meruncing dihadapi penduduk Gaza.
Satu daripada lapan orang kini hidup dengan obesiti - WHO
Obesiti dalam kalangan orang dewasa telah meningkat lebih daripada dua kali ganda sejak 1990.
“Gaza jadi zon maut” - Ketua WHO
Situasi kesihatan dan kemanusiaan yang "tidak berperikemanusiaan" kini berlaku di seluruh Gaza dengan keadaan terus merosot.
Gaza: WHO bantu keluarkan 14 pesakit dari Hospital Nasser
WHO membantu memindahkan 14 pesakit dari Hospital Nasser di bandar Khan Younis yang dikepung tentera Israel.
Penggunaan tembakau semakin berkurangan di seluruh dunia - WHO
Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO) berkata, kebanyakan negara di seluruh dunia berjaya mengurangkan penggunaan tembakau.