tirsdag 19. november 2024

Hong Kong jails 45 democracy activists for up to 10 years

A Hong Kong court jailed 45 democracy supporters for up to 10 years on Tuesday at the end of the city’s biggest national security trial that has damaged its reputation as an outpost of freedom in Greater China and drawn criticism from the United States and other Western countries. In all, 47 Hong Kong opposition politicians and pro-democracy activists were charged with “conspiracy to commit subversion” under the city’s 2020 National Security Law for taking part in a democratic primary in the summer of 2020. Two were acquitted

China imposed the law on the former British colony a year after it was rocked by anti-government riots. Beijing said the law was necessary to safeguard the Asian financial hub’s economic success but critics denounced it as meaning the end of a “one country, two systems” formula under which Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997, that was meant to safeguard freedoms not enjoyed elsewhere in China for 50 years.