{"id":13123,"date":"2026-02-23T05:52:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T05:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=13123"},"modified":"2026-02-23T05:52:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T05:52:50","slug":"hong-kong-court-rejects-appeal-in-landmark-subversion-case-hong-kong-protests-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=13123","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong court rejects appeal in landmark subversion case | Hong Kong Protests News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>The appellants were among 45 opposition figures sentenced to prison in 2024 for organising an unofficial primary election.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><button class=\"article-listen-container\" aria-labelledby=\"listen-text listen-duration\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-button\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-listen-container__text\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-text\">Listen to this article<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"article-listen-container__duration\">3 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/button><button tabindex=\"0\" class=\"tooltip-accessible_trigger\"><svg class=\"icon icon--info icon--main-grey-dark icon--16 listen-to-article-tooltip__icon\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\"><title>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>The Hong Kong Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by jailed democracy campaigners in a high-profile subversion case brought under the Beijing-imposed national security law.<\/p>\n<p>The verdict on Monday stems from the \u201cHong Kong 47\u201d case, where many leading pro-democracy activists and politicians \u2060were arrested en masse \u2060for organising an unofficial primary election that authorities deemed to be a subversive plot.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">Forty-five of the defendants were sentenced in 2024 to between four years and 10 years in prison, with the punishments drawing criticism from foreign governments and rights groups.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">Eleven of the activists who appealed their convictions lost their bids on Monday.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">They included former lawmakers Leung Kwok-hung, Lam Cheuk-ting, Raymond Chan and Helena Wong, as well as former journalist Gwyneth Ho.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">All appeals over sentences were also dismissed by the Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">Lawrence Lau, a pro-democracy former district councillor, was one of two activists acquitted in the case. Judges upheld his acquittal following an appeal by the prosecution.<\/p>\n<p>The cases stem from the aftermath of huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests that convulsed Hong Kong from 2019. The following year, in June,\u00a0Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law that snuffed out most dissent in the semi-autonomous city.<\/p>\n<p>In July of that year, the pro-democracy camp held its unofficial primary to shortlist candidates for a legislative election later that year.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">The camp hoped to secure a majority in the legislature so they could then threaten to veto the city budget unless the government accepted demands like universal suffrage and greater police accountability.<\/p>\n<p>A record number of voters turned out for the unofficial poll.<\/p>\n<p>Months later, authorities rounded up the opposition figures in a mass arrest.<\/p>\n<p>Aged between 28 and 69, the group included democratically elected lawmakers and district councillors, as well as unionists, academics and others, ranging from modest reformists to radical localists.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">During the trial, prosecutors said the activists aimed to paralyse Hong Kong\u2019s government and force the city\u2019s leader to resign.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">The judges said in their 2024 verdict that the activists\u2019 plans to effect change through the unofficial primary would have undermined the government\u2019s authority and created a constitutional crisis.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">During the appeal hearing last year, defence lawyer Erik Shum said that lawmakers should be allowed to veto the budget as a form of \u201ccheck and balance\u201d, as stated in Hong Kong\u2019s mini-constitution.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight:400\">\u201cIn order to check the unpopular exercise of powers by the executive, one of the important measures is to tie the purse,\u201d he told the court.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the appellants have already spent nearly five years behind bars.<\/p>\n<p>As of last month, 18 other defendants who did not contest their convictions have been released after completing their sentences.<\/p>\n<p>In recent years, Hong Kong has faced more restrictions on freedom of expression and the press.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, a Hong Kong court sentenced pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison in a verdict that media and rights groups have described as \u201ccruel and profoundly unjust\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The appellants were among 45 opposition figures sentenced to prison in 2024 for organising an unofficial primary election. Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a03 mins info The Hong Kong Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by jailed democracy campaigners in a high-profile subversion case brought under the Beijing-imposed national security law. The verdict on Monday stems [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}