Ousted pro-democracy lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung (C), also known as "Long Hair," photographed before entering the High Court to hear the sentence for his appeal over his disqualification from Hong Kong's legislative council, on February 15, 2019. ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP
A Hong Kong appeals court, on Monday, February 23, upheld the convictions and sentences of a dozen democracy campaigners jailed for subversion during the city's largest trial under a Beijing-imposed national security law.
The 12 appellants were among 45 opposition figures, including some of the Chinese city's best-known activists, who were sentenced to prison in 2024 for organizing an unofficial primary election that authorities deemed a subversive plot. The 2020 poll had hoped to improve the chances of pro-democracy lawmakers winning a majority in the legislature, so that they could then threaten to veto the city budget unless the government accepted demands such as universal suffrage.
On Monday, High Court Chief Judge Jeremy Poon said the poll was devised as part of a "constitutional weapon of mass destruction," which was unlawful even without the threat of using force. "The pursuit for universal suffrage does not entitle [a person] to embark on a plan (...) for the purpose of seriously interfering in or destroying the constitutional order," Poon wrote.
