Responding to the Hong Kong Court of Appeal rejecting the appeals of 12 defendants in the ‘Hong Kong 47’ case, Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas spokesperson Fernando Cheung said:
“The court’s dismissal of these appeals underlines the grave state of human rights in Hong Kong and once again demonstrates the politically motivated nature of the Hong Kong 47 case.
“None of these 12 defendants committed an internationally recognized crime; they have been serving lengthy sentences simply for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and participation in public affairs.
“It is deeply concerning that, since the introduction of ‘Article 23’ in 2024, at least eight defendants in the Hong Kong 47 case have reportedly been denied early release on the basis of vague and new national security justifications, in contrast to previous long-standing practice in Hong Kong.
“This shows how ‘Article 23’, like the Beijing-imposed National Security Law used to prosecute the Hong Kong 47, has been weaponized to impose additional punitive and retroactive measures against dissidents, including silencing those already behind bars.
“By failing to overturn these wrongful convictions and sentences today, the court has missed a critical opportunity to correct this mass injustice.
“Peaceful opposition to a government is not a crime, and all remaining jailed members of the Hong Kong 47 should be released immediately and unconditionally.”
Background
The Hong Kong Court of Appeal today dismissed the appeals of 12 defendants in the ‘Hong Kong 47’ case.
In Hong Kong’s largest prosecution under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law, which was enacted in June 2020, 47 opposition figures were jointly charged with “conspiracy to commit subversion”. Thirty-one of the 47 pleaded guilty to the charge while 16 pleaded not guilty, two of whom were acquitted.
The charges against the “Hong Kong 47” relate to their organization and participation in self-organized “primaries” for the 2020 Legislative Council elections that were ultimately postponed by authorities on Covid-19 grounds before a new electoral system that strictly vetted who could stand for office was brought in.
To treat self-organized “primaries” conducted by political parties to select candidates to put forward for elections as a genuine threat to Hong Kong’s existence, territorial integrity or political independence does not meet the high threshold of application for “national security” that international human rights standards require.
In March 2024, Hong Kong introduced its Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, often referred to as the ‘Article 23’ law. The law has further squeezed people’s freedoms and enabled authorities to intensify their crackdown on peaceful activism in the city and beyond.
‘Article 23’ has also been used to impose additional punitive measures against dissidents already serving sentences. Before the enactment of ‘Article 23’, the Prison Rules provided that prisoners with good conduct were eligible for early release after serving two-thirds of their sentences. However, under new rules introduced pursuant to ‘Article 23’, the prison authorities can deny the early release on “national security” grounds.
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