Subversion Trial: Hong Kong court convicts 14 pro-democracy activists

Fourteen Hong Kong pro-democracy activists were found guilty and two were acquitted yesterday in a landmark subversion trial that critics say could deal another blow to the city's rule of law and its reputation as a global financial hub.

The verdicts in Hong Kong's biggest trial against the democratic opposition come more than three years after police arrested 47 democrats in dawn raids at homes across the city. They were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion under a national security law imposed by China.

Sentencing will come at a later date for those found guilty, with prison terms ranging from three years to life. Thirty-one defendants pleaded guilty, and four of them have become prosecution witnesses.

The US, Britain, Australia and the European Union quickly condemned the verdicts, calling for the accused to be immediately released. Diplomats from several countries including Britain and the European Union attended the hearing.

"Australia has expressed our strong objections to the Hong Kong authorities on the continuing broad application of national security legislation to arrest and pressure pro-democracy figures," Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement.

"This unprecedented mass conviction is the most ruthless illustration yet of how Hong Kong's national security law is weaponized to silence dissent," Amnesty International's China director, Sarah Brooks, said in a statement. "It represents a near-total purge of the political opposition."

Security was tight around the High Court, with scores of police officers, some with dogs, and vehicles patrolling the area. Some supporters queued overnight to secure a spot.

"I came because it's a critical stage and a historic moment" for Hong Kong, said a man who gave only his surname, Chiu, 35, who began waiting at midnight. The defendants "all stood up for themselves and for Hong Kong people hoping to make a change".

The defendants are accused of a "vicious plot" to paralyse government in the former British colony and force the city's leader to resign through a pre-selection ballot in a July 2020 citywide election.

Summarising their verdict, Judges Andrew Chan, Alex Lee and Johnny Chan wrote that if the defendants had succeeded, it would have created "a constitutional crisis for Hong Kong" and led to "serious interfering in, disrupting or undermining the performance of duties and functions in accordance with the law by the (Hong Kong) government."