Convictions of Campaigners and Journalists Shake Democracy In Hong Kong
This month, seven of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy activists have been convicted of organizing and participating in protest assemblies during the 2019-2020 Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill demonstrations.
Those convicted were 73-year-old media mogul Jimmy Lai, the founder of a pro-democracy newspaper, 82-year-old barrister Martin Lee, a founder of the opposition Democratic Party, lawyer Albert Ho, politician and barrister Margaret Ng, workers’ rights activist Lee Cheuk-yan, former legislators Cyd Ho and social activist Leung Kwok-hung.
The seven were arrested last year for taking part in a protest on August 18, 2019 which was one of the largest in Hong Kong involving over 1 million people and igniting conflict between protesters and police. The protests were triggered by a controversial extradition bill which would have infringed upon agreements of the 1997 hand-over treaty and threatened Hong Kong’s one country-two systems system.