National security trial draws to a close as sentencing looms for Hong Kong’s 45 democratic defenders

A Hong Kong court will this week sentence 45 democratic campaigners in a major national security trial, with potentially heavy jail terms poised to further damage the financial hub’s once lively pro-democracy movement, critics say.

In May, 14 of the 47 democrats were found guilty of the charge of conspiracy to commit subversion, and two were acquitted. Earlier, 31 had pleaded guilty, hoping for reduced sentences.

The U.S. has described the trial and its guilty verdicts as “politically motivated”, while demanding the defendants be released.

Hong Kong authorities say the legal process has been impartial, while condemning critical comments from Western democracies as baseless and “malicious smearing”.

On Tuesday, three national security judges hand-picked by the government for this trial will conclude the legal saga that began with the democrats’ arrests in January 2021. Jail terms are expected to range from several years for participants to possible life imprisonment for principal offenders.

The charges of conspiracy to commit subversion followed unofficial primary elections held in July 2020 to maximise the democrats’ chances of winning a majority in an upcoming legislative council election.

The convictions have silenced some of the most popular and determined pro-democratic voices, according to an examination of social media posts and interviews with lawyers and relatives of half a dozen defendants.

“This case has swept away the entire pro-democracy camp in Hong Kong,” said Emilia Wong, the girlfriend of one of the defendants, Ventus Lau.

Prior to the trial, the democrats had existed in the space promised when Hong Kong returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula granting the city wide-ranging freedoms denied to those in mainland China.

But critics say this model suffered with China’s imposition of a national security law in July 2020 after pro-democracy protests swept the city a year earlier.

Beijing says it remains committed to this formula.

Caught in a “single net”

“These people have undergone a kind of social death, and they are temporarily dead in the political arena. A single net has captured them all,” said Wong, who has visited Lau in prison several hundred times since he was jailed in 2021.

Five relatives and friends of defendants interviewed by Reuters said they felt a sense of relief at reaching the sentencing after an extended legal limbo, which brought on mental and physical health issues for some.

One defendant, Eddie Chu, a former journalist, now suffers from glaucoma and sometimes cannot see clearly which affects his mood, according to his friend Debby Chan.

John, the husband of Winnie Yu, another defendant, who did not wish to disclose his full name due to the sensitivity of the matter, said he stood by her decision to not plead guilty despite knowing the chance of acquittal was low.

“It’s because she wants to say something,” John told Reuters. “Stick to our beliefs, don’t change our thoughts easily because of others, be ourselves … I think this experience will be passed down for generations.”

Some legal experts say the treatment of the democrats has been a departure from common law traditions. Most were denied bail, and they were all denied a jury trial.

“The 47 democrats verdict makes crystal clear that any such compatibility with human rights or the rule of law stops at the all-important legislative purpose of the national security law as a means to protect national security,” said Urania Chiu, a doctoral legal researcher at Oxford University.

China says the security laws were necessary to restore order after the mass protests of 2019.

Sarah Brooks, China director for Amnesty International, said there were parallels between this case and subversion trials against government critics in mainland China.

“Opposition is seen as dissent … That is a remarkable about-face for Hong Kong.”

Chan, the friend of Eddie Chu, said while the current national security legal system meant protesting or speaking out publicly was prohibited, many people maintained their desire for freedoms and democracy in private.

“The democratic movement in Hong Kong has now become invisible,” she told Reuters. “Taking on another meaning and form.”