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.

Benny Tai and Joshua Wong were among the so-called Hong Kong 47 activists and lawmakers who participated in the process of nominating candidates for the local elections. Tai got 10 years and Wong got more than four years.

A total of 45 people were arrested for plotting a coup, after two of the accused were dropped in May.

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

Those demonstrations saw hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Hong Kong months. Sparked by a proposed government deal that would have allowed Hong Kong’s extradition to mainland China, the protests quickly grew to reflect broader demands for democratic reform.

Observers say the NSL and the outcome of the case is huge it weakens the city’s organization that supports democracy and the rule of lawand allowed China to seize control of the city.

Emily Lau, former chairwoman of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party, said the fear of being arrested under the NSL was so great that “recently, we couldn’t even organize a dinner party for members and friends. And this is how stressful things are.”

“The fight will continue but in a peaceful and legal way,” Ms Lau told the BBC’s Newsday.

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 he raised Jimmy Lai’s casethe billionaire pro-democracy activist in jail, when he met with Chinese leader Xi Jingping at the G20 summit on Monday. The 76-year-old suspect is facing charges of treason.

The Beijing and Hong Kong governments argue that the NSL is necessary to maintain stability and deny that it undermines independence. They also said that the conviction is a warning to forces that 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 “insulting and undermining Hong Kong’s rule of law”.

The case drew a lot of attention from Hongkongers, many of whom lined up outside the court days before the sentencing to get a place in the public gallery.

Standing in line on Tuesday was Lee Yue-shun, one of two defendants acquitted. 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.

Inside the court, his family members and friends waved from the court towards the defendants, who appeared calm while sitting in the dock. Some in the gallery were seen in tears as the sentences, which ranged from four to ten 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.

Other prominent pro-democracy figures convicted include former journalist-turned-politician Gwyneth Ho, and former MPs Claudia Mo and Leung Kwok-hung. They received sentences of between four and seven years in prison.

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

After the 2019 protests subsided due to the Covid pandemic, activists organized an illegal base for the Legislative Council elections as a way to continue 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.

The organizers argued at the time that their actions were permitted under the Basic Law – a narrow constitution that allowed 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.

A spokesperson for Human Rights Watch described Tuesday’s sentencing as showing “how Hong Kong’s freedoms and legal independence have been eroded” since the “Draconian” NSL law was passed. They added that the Chinese and Hong Kong governments “have now significantly increased the cost of promoting democracy in Hong Kong”.

The pro-Beijing government may have used the case to “settle scores” with the pro-democracy camp, said John P Burns, professor emeritus at the University of Hong Kong.

“The central authorities are also using this case to re-educate the people of Hong Kong,” said Dr Burns, with the lesson that “national security is the country’s top priority; don’t challenge our 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?”

Stephan Ortmann, an assistant professor of politics at Hong Kong Metropolitan University, said the sentence “sets a precedent for the severity of punishments for political dissent under the NSL”.

The pro-democracy movement has now been “severely weakened” when “introspection has become the norm”, he added.

Hong Kong activists say they have seen the chilling effect firsthand.

“It doesn’t mean that the government in Beijing is winning the hearts of the people,” said Sunny Cheung, an activist who ran in the 2020 primaries but has since fled to the US.

“They may be happy in a way because all the opposition is eliminated… but at the same time, they have lost an entire generation. They are not trusted by the people.”