Three veteran Hong Kong democracy advocates, including media tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英), on Wednesday pleaded guilty to taking part in an unauthorized rally in 2019 that led to violence between police and participants.
The charges carry prison terms of up to five years.
Former Hong Kong legislator Lee Cheuk-yan (李卓人) and former Hong Kong Democratic Party chairman Yeung Sum (楊森) were released on bail.
Photo: AFP
Lai was returned to jail, as he is already being held on other charges related to his opposition to China’s crackdown on civil liberties in the territory.
Walking out of the courthouse in Wanchai District, Lee said that, despite pleading guilty, he and the others saw no fault in their actions.
“Today we plead guilty to the charges, but we have done no wrong,” Lee said.
Photo: AP
“This is an act of civil disobedience. We want to reclaim our right to demonstration and we affirm the right of people, that we have the right to come out to march,” he said.
“And we believe that history will absolve us, because we believe that any political progress, and the progress and rights of the people, have to be reclaimed by the people by exercising their rights to come out to march,” he said.
The court was shown videos of the three at the Aug. 31, 2019, event.
Separately, one of a group detained at sea as they sought to flee Hong Kong by speedboat was brought to court amid extraordinary security.
A fleet of motorcycles and police vehicles along with helmeted officers toting shotguns and machine guns accompanied Andy Li (李宇軒), who is charged with collusion with foreign forces under the National Security Law imposed by Beijing, as well as unlicensed possession of ammunition and conspiracy to assist offenders.
Li was charged with collusion in August last year.
He had been one of 12 Hong Kongers detained by mainland Chinese authorities on a boat in late August last year, sentenced to seven months in prison, and returned to Hong Kong on March 22.
Li’s story then took a twist reflective of China’s opaque legal system.
His family was unable to contact him for days after his return to Hong Kong.
Then, Lawrence Law (羅達雄), a lawyer unknown to Li’s family, appeared to represent him.
Law was also at court on Wednesday.
Law works at Olympia Chambers, which last week issued a statement saying that “Mr Law has no duty to inform the press about the details of his instructions, and/or to the family members of Mr Li.”
Law was “instructed through a private firm of solicitors to appear,” but no other information was provided.
Eight of the people in the boat had been jailed in Shenzhen and returned to Hong Kong in batches, a police statement said on Monday.
The group was detained at sea during an attempt to reach Taiwan.
Many were facing prosecution in Hong Kong because of their involvement in the 2019 protests.
‘NEO-NAZIS’: A minister described the rally as ‘spreading hate’ and ‘dividing our communities,’ adding that it had been organized and promoted by far-right groups Thousands of Australians joined anti-immigration rallies across the country yesterday that the center-left government condemned, saying they sought to spread hate and were linked to neo-Nazis. “March for Australia” rallies against immigration were held in Sydney, and other state capitals and regional centers, according to the group’s Web site. “Mass migration has torn at the bonds that held our communities together,” the Web site said. The group posted on X on Saturday that the rallies aimed to do “what the mainstream politicians never have the courage to do: demand an end to mass immigration.” The group also said it was concerned about culture,
CRACKDOWN: The Indonesian president vowed to clamp down on ‘treason and terrorism,’ while acceding to some protest demands to revoke lawmaker benefits Protests in Indonesia over rising living costs and inequality intensified overnight, prompting Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to cancel a planned trip to China, while demonstrators reportedly targeted the homes of the finance minister and several lawmakers. Rioters entered Indonesian Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati’s residence near Jakarta early yesterday, but were repelled by armed forces personnel, Kompas reported. Items were taken from the homes of lawmaker Ahmad Sahroni and two others, according to Detik.com. The reports of looting could not be independently verified, and the finance ministry has not responded to requests for comment. The protests were sparked by outrage over
VENEZUELAN ACTION: Marco Rubio said that previous US interdiction efforts have not stemmed the flow of illicit drugs into the US and that ‘blowing them up’ would US President Donald Trump on Wednesday justified a lethal military strike that his administration said was carried out a day earlier against a Venezuelan gang as a necessary effort by the US to send a message to Latin American cartels. Asked why the military did not instead interdict the vessel and capture those on board, Trump said that the operation would cause drug smugglers to think twice about trying to move drugs into the US. “There was massive amounts of drugs coming into our country to kill a lot of people and everybody fully understands that,” Trump said while hosting Polish President
A French couple kept Louise, a playful black panther, in an apartment in northern France, triggering panic when she was spotted roaming nearby rooftops. The pair were were handed suspended jail sentences on Thursday for illegally keeping a wild animal, despite protesting that they saw Louise as their baby. The ruling follows a September 2019 incident when the months-old feline was seen roaming a rooftop in Armentieres after slipping out of the couple’s window. Authorities captured the panther by sedating her with anesthetic darts after she entered a home. No injuries were reported during the animal’s time on the loose. The court in the
RSS