Guilty verdict for Hong Kong 'defenders' spells end of local democracy
Issued on:
01/04/2021 - 20:12
Ex legislator and "father of Hong Kong's democracy" Martin Lee (82) at the court in Hong Kong. Isaac Lawrence AFP
Text by:
Jan van der Made with RFI
5 min
Seven of Hong Kong's top pro-democracy advocates, including a media tycoon and an 82-year-old veteran of the movement, were convicted Thursday for their roles in organising and participating in a march during anti-government protests in 2019.
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Jimmy Lai, the owner of the outspoken
Apple Daily tabloid, Martin Lee, the octogenarian founder of the city’s Democratic Party, and five former pro-democracy lawmakers were found guilty in a ruling handed down by district judge Amanda Woodcock. They were charged with "organising an unauthorised assembly". They face up to five years in prison. Two other former lawmakers charged in the same case had pleaded guilty earlier.