HONG KONG: 4 Hong Kong activists on Friday pleaded responsible to subversion, a violation that might see them jailed for years beneath town’s Beijing-imposed nationwide safety regulation.
China is remoulding Hong Kong in its authoritarian picture, utilizing the wide-ranging safety regulation to silence dissent.
The newest worldwide criticism of the regulation got here this week from the UN Human Rights Committee, which mentioned it was too broad and utilized arbitrarily.
On Friday, 4 individuals – aged between 19 and 21 -pleaded responsible to subversion, after prosecutors accused them of inciting others to overthrow the federal government.
They might now be imprisoned for years beneath the safety regulation, which China imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 after a wave of big and generally violent pro-democracy protests.
The 4 have been accused of organising road cubicles to advertise “revolution” in opposition to the Chinese language authorities and to incite separatism.
As proof of subversion, the prosecution cited one of many defendants urging the general public to not use a Covid-19 contact tracing app and to disobey anti-epidemic insurance policies.
The activists – Wong Yat-chin, Chan Chi-sum, Chu Wai-ying and Wong Yuen-lam – now await sentencing. They may return to courtroom on September 24.
Greater than 200 individuals have been arrested up to now over alleged violations of the safety regulation.
Chinese language and Hong Kong authorities have dismissed criticism of the regulation, saying it’s “unsubstantiated”.
Hong Kong Chief Govt John Lee on Friday mentioned the regulation had introduced stability and peace again to town, describing the criticism from the UN rights watchdog as “misguided”.
China is remoulding Hong Kong in its authoritarian picture, utilizing the wide-ranging safety regulation to silence dissent.
The newest worldwide criticism of the regulation got here this week from the UN Human Rights Committee, which mentioned it was too broad and utilized arbitrarily.
On Friday, 4 individuals – aged between 19 and 21 -pleaded responsible to subversion, after prosecutors accused them of inciting others to overthrow the federal government.
They might now be imprisoned for years beneath the safety regulation, which China imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 after a wave of big and generally violent pro-democracy protests.
The 4 have been accused of organising road cubicles to advertise “revolution” in opposition to the Chinese language authorities and to incite separatism.
As proof of subversion, the prosecution cited one of many defendants urging the general public to not use a Covid-19 contact tracing app and to disobey anti-epidemic insurance policies.
The activists – Wong Yat-chin, Chan Chi-sum, Chu Wai-ying and Wong Yuen-lam – now await sentencing. They may return to courtroom on September 24.
Greater than 200 individuals have been arrested up to now over alleged violations of the safety regulation.
Chinese language and Hong Kong authorities have dismissed criticism of the regulation, saying it’s “unsubstantiated”.
Hong Kong Chief Govt John Lee on Friday mentioned the regulation had introduced stability and peace again to town, describing the criticism from the UN rights watchdog as “misguided”.