This is a decision that illustrates the relentless repression in the special administrative region of hong Kong. Nine veterans of the opposition have been declared guilty, Thursday, April 1, of the organization of a rally on 18 August 2019, which was one of the largest events in the seven months of protest.
Among them are some of the most respected figures in the fight for freedom in this territory, often of the apostles of non-violence who are mobilized for decades for the implementation of genuine universal suffrage. One of the most famous is the lawyer’s 82-year-old Martin Lee, founder of the democratic Party (HKDP) and often referred to as the ” father of the democratic movement in hong Kong “. Before the handover in 1997, he had been chosen by Beijing to draft the basic Law, which serves as the mini-Constitution in the semi-autonomous region.
, Were also sued the ex-mp of the opposition, and advocate Margaret Ng, 73-year-old media mogul Jimmy Lai and the ex-member Leung Kwok-hung, known by the nickname of ” Long Hair “. These last two are currently in custody because of separate lawsuits on behalf of the national security act that Beijing has imposed at the end of June 2020.
The others are of the leading figures of the Front civil human rights (CHRF), the coalition that had organized the most large protests in 2019, when the city had experienced its worst political crisis since the handover, with actions and mobilizations on an almost daily basis. On Thursday morning, a few of their supporters had gathered near the court, holding placards denouncing the ” political repression “.
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The district court of hong Kong has declared a seven guilty of organization and participation in an illegal gathering. The other two had pleaded guilty. They face up to five years in prison. It is unclear when the sentences will be pronounced. “We are very proud of, even if we have to go to jail for it,” told reporters the former member of parliament and leader of the unionist Lee Cheuk-yan. “Whatever the future holds for us, we will never stop to scroll. “
An emblematic case of the current environment
The case is particularly iconic of the climate which reigns in the former british colony since it focuses on the organization of an unauthorized gathering. The organizers had reported 1.7 million protesters that day, which would represent nearly one in hong Kong on four. This figure could not be verified independently. The use by the authorities of the qualification d'” organisation and participation in an unauthorized gathering ” is denounced long-standing hong Kong by the associations for the defence of human rights.
And the british lawyer David Perry, who had been chosen by the government of hong kong to lead the charge against the nine veterans, had declined to do so because of strong criticism of the London and uk organisations of lawyers. One of the angles of attack of the prosecution was to say that these nine people had braved the ban on protests, which had disrupted the car traffic in the city. And, in its verdict, the judge AJ Woodcock warned that it was inclined to impose the maximum sentence, and suggested that the peaceful nature of the event was not an excuse admissible.
taken in hand muscled
The popularity of the popular protests had resulted in the polls by a triumph of the opposition in the local elections of November 2019. But the movement had suffered at the beginning of 2020 to a screeching halt under the cumulative effect of the restrictions of gathering taken against the outbreak of Covid-19, and thousands of arrests, but also to a certain fatigue of the protesters. With the exception of the discontinuation of the controversial law on extradition, which had been the trigger for the protest, the protesters were not obtained.
The power of china has engaged in 2020, recovery in hand-muscled of the region, in particular through the national security act. No event is now possible in the city, and the authorities have, on the grounds of the epidemic, was postponed for one year of general elections, in which the opposition had every opportunity to see the popularity of the combat supported.
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New nail in the coffin of the exception in hong kong, the reform of the electoral system for local as China has promulgated Tuesday, and that will result in marginalizing totally the opposition in the legislative Council (LegCo, the Parliament hong kong).
Read also China to adopt a radical reform of the electoral system in hong Kong
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