Hong Kong 47: 45 pro-democracy activists sentenced to 4-10 years jail in largest national security trial

A Hong Kong court has begun sentencing leading pro-democracy figures to prison terms of up to 10 years for subversion, following a highly criticized national security trial. Benny Tai and Joshua Wong were among the first from the "Hong Kong 47" group to be sentenced. Tai was handed a 10-year sentence, while Wong received over four years for their involvement in a scheme to select opposition candidates for local elections. In total, 47 activists, opposition lawmakers, and citizens participated in the plan, with most convicted of conspiracy to commit subversion.

Benny Tai, a legal scholar and activist, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Tuesday for his role in organizing pre-election primaries, which the court deemed an attempt to create a constitutional crisis. This marks the longest sentence issued under the city's national security law to date.

Joshua Wong, a prominent figure from the 2019 protest movement, was sentenced to four years and eight months after receiving a one-third reduction for pleading guilty. The court described him as an "active participant" in the primaries scheme.

The court also ruled that Wong was "not of good character" due to his prior convictions. Although Wong is already serving sentences for other protest-related offenses, the judges stated that the additional sentence would "not be overwhelming" for him.

The men are part of the "Hong Kong 47," a group charged under the National Security Law (NSL) for their role in a 2020 primary election aimed at securing a pro-democracy majority in Hong Kong's legislature. Their goal was to use the majority to push for pro-democracy reforms. Most of the group has already spent over three years in jail, but none were released on Tuesday. Those who pleaded not guilty received harsher sentences. This case marks the largest number of defendants under the NSL, with 47 arrested in early 2021 during a series of dawn raids that shocked the city.

The Hong Kong 47 are prominent figures in the Beijing-led crackdown on political freedom and dissent in Hong Kong. They were activists, legislators, campaigners, and councillors from the pro-democracy camp in Hong Kong’s once-vibrant political scene. In 2020, they organized a pre-election primary to select the best candidates to challenge the pro-Beijing establishment in the upcoming Hong Kong general election. While similar primaries had been held before, this one occurred shortly after the implementation of the National Security Law (NSL), a sweeping law introduced by the Chinese government to criminalize dissent, sedition, and foreign collusion.

The Hong Kong 47 group sought to secure a majority in Hong Kong's legislative council (LegCo) and use it to block budgetary bills, potentially forcing the resignation of the chief executive if she did not meet the pro-democracy movement's demands. Prosecutors argued that the plan would destabilize the Hong Kong government and create a constitutional crisis, a view that was supported by the three government-appointed judges overseeing the trial. The court ruled that the plan violated Hong Kong's Basic Law and amounted to a conspiracy to commit subversion under the National Security Law (NSL).