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The prominent democracy activist wants to admit in his criminal case that he organized an unauthorized meeting. If convicted, he and his colleagues face long prison terms.
By Steffen Wurzel, ARD-Studio Shanghai
Joshua Wong said the morning before entering court that he would plead guilty. So it would come as no surprise if he was arrested before the end of the trial, the 24-year-old activist said. So far he is free subject to conditions.
In addition to Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, 23, and Ivan Lam, 26, are also on trial today. The indictment alleges that the three activists were present at an unauthorized demonstration outside a Hong Kong police station in June last year. They are also said to have asked others to participate in the illegal protest, according to the indictment. All three face up to five years in prison. This morning, in front of the Hong Kong court, they were demonstratively combative.
The security law restricts autonomy
It is very possible that she will go to jail for the first time in her life, Agnes Chow said. Joshua Wong added: “Neither bars, electoral exclusion nor other arbitrary actions by the authorities can prevent us from our democratic activism.”
Demonstrations and protests like the one for which the three activists are being tried would no longer be possible in Hong Kong today. Because since July a state security law has been in force in the special administrative region of China, which is actually governed autonomously. It was not enacted by the Hong Kong parliament, but by the communist leadership in Beijing. It had already gradually weakened autonomy in the former British colony, which actually still existed until 2047, in recent years.
With the State Security Law, China’s state and party leadership has again accelerated this process: the law has completely undermined freedom of expression and assembly in numerous areas. Fear and resignation prevail in a large part of the population. Nearly two weeks ago, the Chinese government had several freely elected MPs removed from Hong Kong parliament for flimsy reasons, all of them politicians from pro-democracy parties. Only patriots who love China should rule Hong Kong, and not those who endanger national security, said government spokesman Zhao Lijian in Beijing, explaining the exclusion of parliamentarians.
Almost 1700 procedures
The Hong Kong authorities, who are loyal to mainland China, have been cracking down on unpopular people almost every day for weeks. Police arrested a local politician and a radio host over the weekend. The two are said to have raised money for or called pro-democracy campaigns.
According to activists, some 10,000 people have been detained in Hong Kong during protests in recent months. Most of them were released again and the proceedings are ongoing around 1700.
The fate of twelve young activists who tried to flee from Hong Kong to Taiwan by speedboat in late August continues to cause a stir in Hong Kong. They were detained at sea by the Chinese coast guard. Since then they have been imprisoned in mainland China. It is not clear how they are doing it. China’s communist authorities have denied access to independent lawyers and family members.
