Hong Kong: Jailing of 45 pro-democracy activists, Stand News editors and critics highlights climate of repression

Hong Kong’s civic space remains rated as ‘closed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor. The draconian 2020 National Security Law (NSL) has been used to prosecute activists, journalists and critics with heavy penalties, while sedition charges have been brought against activists and critics to silence dissent. A new security law - Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (Article 23) - will add another layer of repression in the territory. Warrants have also been issued against exiled pro-democracy activists. Peaceful protesters have also been convicted and some remain behind bars. The right to freedom of association has also been undermined by the introduction of the NSL, with civil society groups and unions ceasing to operate.

In recent months, the authorities sentenced 45 activists to between four and ten years’ imprisonment under the draconian National Security Law (NSL) while detained human rights defender Chow Hang Tung continues to be persecuted. The courts jailed editors of now closed Stand News for ‘sedition’, media owner and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai testifies in court, while authorities continue to criminalise various form of expression. A report highlighted the severe decline in academic freedom in Hong Kong.

Association

Mass sentencing of pro-democracy activists

On 19th November 2024, three judges handpicked by Hong Kong’s chief executive sentenced 45 activists to harsh sentences varying from four to ten years’ imprisonment. The group of activists - 37 men and 8 women - includes opposition politicians, former lawmakers, unionists, academics and lawyers, and were among 47 individuals charged under article 22 of the draconian National Security Law (NSL) in 2021 with “conspiracy to commit subversion.”

They were charged following an unofficial primary election in July 2020 to pick opposition candidates for the 2020 legislative elections, which were then postponed due to COVID-19. Subsequently, the Chinese government brought in a new electoral system that strictly vetted who could stand for office. Of the accused, 31 pleaded guilty and two were acquitted at trial. Their prolonged detention, denial of bail and a jury trial has raised serious fair trial concerns.

The convictions are part of the relentless efforts by the government to crush the democracy movement in Hong Kong. Since the NSL was passed in 2020 it has been systematically used as a tool to criminalise and punish dissent, especially those calling for democratic reforms in Hong Kong. Nearly 300 individuals have been arrested, charged or prosecuted. It has also been used to criminalise protesters and crack down on the media, and civil society groups, unions and political parties have been forced to disband. Hong Kong activists in exile also remain at risk with warrants and bounties issued for their capture.

The UN said they were “gravely concerned by the use of the National Security Law to convict and impose harsh sentences” and that “the use of such security laws of sweeping breadth results in the criminalisation of conduct protected by human rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association.”

Ongoing persecution of human rights defender Chow Hang-Tung

Chow Hang-Tung, a human rights lawyer and pro-democracy activist, is still in detention. She was one of the four vice-chairs of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement of China (HKA).

She was handed a 12-month prison sentence in December 2021 for her involvement in the June 2020 Tiananmen vigil and a 15-month jail sentence in January 2022 for inciting others to participate in the 2021 vigil through her writing. Chow was also convicted and sentenced to 4.5 months in prison in March 2023 for "not complying with the requirement to provide information" under the draconian National Security Law. She is facing another trial for "inciting subversion of state power” under the same law. She was charged again in May 2024 under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (Article 23) for alleged seditious intent.

In July 2024, the courts stated that Chow Hang-Tung will have to pay HK$100,000 (US$12,800) in legal costs after failing to challenge the Hong Kong government’s bid to ban the pro-democracy anthem ‘Glory to Hong Kong’, the pro-democracy song known as the anthem of the anti-extradition protests in 2019.

In October 2024 the High Court barred activist Chow Hang-Tung from calling on overseas witnesses to testify virtually in her national security trial.

Expression

Court jails editors of now closed Stand News for ‘sedition’

On 26th September 2024, Stand News’ former chief editor Chung Pui-kuen was sentenced by the Hong Kong District Court to 21 months in jail; and former acting chief editor Patrick Lam was sentenced to 11 months after they were convicted in August 2024 of conspiring to publish seditious publications under Hong Kong’s sedition law. Both journalists had already spent almost a year in pre-trial detention.

The prosecution against the journalists, along with Stand News’ parent company Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Limited, was based on 17 allegedly seditious articles, including news reporting, interviews, profiles, and opinion pieces.

Stand News, a non-profit digital news outlet, ceased operations and deleted its website in December 2021 after its newsroom was raided by over 200 national security police officers.

The Stand News case is the first trial for sedition – and the first national-security related conviction – of a media company and individual journalists since before 1997, when Hong Kong was handed over from Britain to China.

Since 2020, the Chinese and Hong Kong governments have dismantled Hong Kong’s once-thriving independent media, which for decades had often been highly critical of the Chinese Communist Party. Hong Kong police raided and shuttered Apple Daily, arresting its owner, top executives and staff, and froze the company’s assets. At least seven other news outlets shut down in fear of the crackdown. The Hong Kong government has also repeatedly harassed the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association.

Pro-democracy figure and former media owner testifies in national security trial

Jimmy Lai, one of the most influential pro-democracy figures, testified in court on 20th November 2024 for the first time in a national security trial that may see him sentenced to life in jail.

The 76-year-old founder of the now-defunct Hong Kong tabloid Apple Daily has been accused of colluding with foreign forces. Lai is already serving prison sentences for a range of offences for his alleged role in pro-democracy protests in 2019, which led to China imposing the National Security Law.

Lai has said he never tried to influence foreign policy or ask foreign officials to take concrete action on Hong Kong. Lai is expected to spend weeks giving testimony.

Lai’s ongoing trial has seen him plead not guilty to two conspiracy charges of 'collusion with foreign forces' and a third count relating to his tabloid paper Apple Daily, which has been accused of 'publishing seditious material' against the government following the imposition of the National Security Law.

Authorities continue to criminalise peaceful expression

The authorities in Hong Kong have continued to criminalise various forms of expression.

A man was found guilty in July 2024 of insulting the Chinese national anthem at an international volleyball game in 2023. He was sentenced to eight weeks in jail in August 2024. Chan Pak-yui was accused of publicly and intentionally insulting the national anthem at the Hong Kong Coliseum after he covered his ears when the March of the Volunteers was played before the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Nations League match in June 2023. He was also said to have sung ‘Do You Hear the People Sing’, a song from musical Les Miserables that was popular during the pro-democracy protests in 2014 and 2019.

In August 2024, an elderly busker was sentenced to two weeks in jail over unlicensed public performances of the protest anthem ‘Glory to Hong Kong’. Li Jiexin’s conviction marked the second time he had been sentenced to jail over unlicensed performances, both involving the protest song popularised at the height of pro-democracy protests in 2019.

In September 2024, Chu Kai-pong was sentenced to one year and two months in jail for sedition under section 24 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO), the new national security legislation enacted in March 2024 based on Article 23 of the city’s Basic Law. He was arrested on 12th June 2024, the anniversary of the 2019 anti-extradition protests, for wearing a T-shirt bearing the 2019 protest slogan, “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times”, and a yellow mask printed with the letters “FDNOL”, the abbreviation of another protest slogan, “Five Demands, Not One Less”.

Severe decline in academic freedom in universities

In September 2024, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report that highlighted the severe decline in academic freedom and the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly in Hong Kong’s eight publicly funded universities since June 2020.

According to HRW, students, academics and administrators, especially those from Hong Kong studying contemporary socio-political issues, believe they must tread carefully, as any misstep as to what they say, research, write, teach or publish, or with whom they partner, can potentially land them or those they associate with in serious trouble.

University officials have harassed the once influential student unions at all eight universities in Hong Kong. They have cut off administrative support to these unions, refused to collect membership dues for them, denied them gathering spaces and offices, and pushed them off campuses to become entities legally separate from the universities.

University officials have punished students for holding peaceful protests and gatherings, and have broadly censored student publications, communications and events. University security guards - some former police officers - have been empowered to tear down student posters.