Hong Kong 47: 11 jailed democrats granted permission to appeal to top court

Eleven pro-democracy figures jailed in the landmark “Hong Kong 47” national security case have won permission to appeal to the city’s top court. The High Court. File photo: Tom Grundy/HKFP. The Court of Appeal on Monday issued a certificate for the activists, who were jailed in the city’s largest national security case for conspiracy to commit subversion, to take their case to the Court of Final Appeal. The three appellate judges led by Chief Judge of the High Court Jeremy Poon were convinced that the activists’ appeals “merit the consideration by the Court of Final Appeal, in particular when it is the first occasion they are to be determined by our apex court.” Monday’s decision stemmed from the Hong Kong 47 case, in which 45 defendants were convicted of conspiracy to commit subversion under a Beijing-imposed national security law in May 2024. Two were acquitted. Jeremy Poon. Photo: Judiciary The defendants feature some of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy activists, namely Clarisse Yeung, Helena Wong, Owen Chow, Winnie Yu, Gwyneth Ho, Lam Cheuk-ting, Gordon Ng, Cheng Tat-hung, Kalvin Ho, Raymond Chan, and Leung Kwok-hung. They were arrested and charged in 2021 over an unofficial primary election held in 2020, which aimed to increase the pro-democracy camp’s chance at winning a legislative majority – enabling them to threaten a veto of government budgets for political demands like universal suffrage. The judges ruled that, if their scheme succeeded, it would have resulted in a “constitutional crisis.” 12 defendants lodged appeals against their conviction or jail term – or both – but the Court of Appeal rejected their bids in February. The appellate court also rejected the government’s bid to challenge the acquittal of lawyer Lawrence Lau. Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs. Safeguard press freedom; keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps Make a one-off donation. Hans Tse is a reporter at Hong Kong Free Press with an interest in local politics, academia, and media transformation. He was previously a social science researcher, with writing published in the Social Movement Studies and Social Transformation of Chinese Societies journals. He holds an M.Phil in communication from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Before joining HKFP, he also worked as a freelance reporter for Initium between 2019 and 2021, where he covered the height - and aftermath - of the 2019 protests, as well as the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020. More by Hans Tse