Hong Kong activists convicted over unauthorised protests

Hong Kong (dpa), 1 April, 2021 -  Seven high-profile Hong Kong pro-democracy figures were convicted on Thursday for taking part in unauthorised protests in 2019.   

Martin Lee, a 83-year lawyer who founded Hong Kong’s Democratic Party, and 72-year old media mogul Jimmy Lai, owner of Apple Daily and the Next Digital media group, were among those found guilty.   

The activists denied taking part in unauthorised demonstrations on August 12 and 18, 2019, when 1.7 million people rallied at the peak of anti-government protests that began in June that year.   

The defence team also argued that freedom of assembly is protected under Hong Kong’s constitution, while the prosecution claimed that freedom is 
not absolute.   

Most of the protests during the year-long movement were authorised by Hong Kong police, but as the numbers of participants increased, forces started to halt the rallies, sometimes while they were happening.