HONG KONG: A Hong Kong appeals court on Monday (Feb 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 organising 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 like universal suffrage.
The appeals from the 12, including ex-lawmaker "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung and former journalist Gwyneth Ho, were heard last year, and on Monday High Court Chief Judge Jeremy Poon dismissed them.
The cases stem from the aftermath of huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests that convulsed Hong Kong from 2019. - AFP
