In a ground-breaking court ruling today Hong Kongʼs legal system dealt a hard-hitting blow to the pro-democracy movement. The High Court sent 45 democracy-minded people to jail with sentences reaching up-to ten years
The case started about 3 years ago when authorities arrested 47 people for breaking the Beijing-made security rules. Most defendants got jail-time while two people walked free (which is quite rare in such cases)
International reaction came quick and strong from many countries:
- The British Indo-Pacific minister pointed to freedom limits
- Australiaʼs foreign office asked to stop limiting peoples rights
- US officials spoke against political case-making
- EU representatives called it bad for Hong Kongʼs future
Living in an uneasy environment we must have hope
Chinese officials dont see any issues here: they say Hong Kongʼs laws work as they should. The cityʼs security chief Chris Tang thinks punishment shows how bad the crime was
Legal experts say this shows big changes in Hong Kongʼs system – where even moderate political actions can lead to jail now. Maya Wang from Human Rights Watch points out that trying to win an election became a crime with ten-year punishment
The whole thing changed Hong Kongʼs democracy movement in ways nobody expected. Steve Tsang from SOAS thinks while people still want democracy organized actions stopped working. Oxford researcher Urania Chiu sees damage to peoples trust in courts