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The leading democracy activist wants to admit in his criminal case that he organized an unauthorized meeting. If convicted, he and his colleagues face lengthy prison terms.
By Steffen Wurzel, ARD-Studio Shanghai
Joshua Wong said the morning before entering court that he would plead guilty. So it wouldn’t be a surprise if he was arrested before the trial was over, the 24-year-old activist said. So far it is subject to conditions.
In addition to Joshua Wong, 23-year-old Agnes Chow and 26-year-old Ivan Lam are also on trial today. The prosecution claims that the three activists participated in an unauthorized demonstration outside a Hong Kong police station in June last year. They are also said to have asked others to take part in the illegal protest, according to the indictment. The three face up to five years in prison. They have been demonstratively combative in front of the Hong Kong court this morning.
The security law limits autonomy
It is entirely possible that he will go to prison for the first time in his life, Agnes Chow said. Joshua Wong added: “Neither prison bars, electoral exclusion, nor other arbitrary actions by the authorities can prevent us from activism for democracy.”
Demonstrations and protests like the one the three activists are on trial would no longer be possible in Hong Kong today. A state security law has been in place since July in the Chinese Special Administrative Region, which is actually governed autonomously. It was promulgated not by the Hong Kong parliament, but by the Communist leadership in Beijing. It had already progressively weakened the autonomy of the former British colony, which actually still existed until 2047, in recent years.
With the State Security Act, the leadership of the state and the Chinese party has again accelerated this process: the law has completely undermined the freedom of expression and assembly in numerous areas. Fear and resignation prevail in a large part of the population. Almost two weeks ago, the Chinese government removed several freely elected MPs from the Hong Kong parliament for inconsistent reasons – all politicians from pro-democratic parties. Only patriots who love China should rule in Hong Kong, and not those who endanger national security, government spokesman Zhao Lijian in Beijing said, justifying the exclusion of parliamentarians.
Almost 1700 procedures
Hong Kong authorities, who are loyal to mainland China, have been taking action against unpopular people almost every day for weeks. Police arrested a local politician and radio presenter over the weekend. The two are said to have raised funds for pro-democratic campaigns or called them.
According to activists, 10,000 people have been arrested during protests in Hong Kong in recent months. Most of them have been re-released and the proceedings are ongoing around 1700.
The fate of twelve young activists who tried to escape from Hong Kong to Taiwan by speedboat in late August continues to cause a stir in Hong Kong. They were stopped at sea by the Chinese coast guard. They have since been imprisoned in mainland China. How they are doing is unclear. Communist authorities in China denied access to independent and family lawyers.
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