Hong Kong's High Court has rejected an attempt to overturn the convictions of media mogul Jimmy Lai and six other pro-democracy activists for their involvement in the 2019 protests.
Lai, the founder of the now-closed “Apple Daily”, along with veteran democrat Martin Lee and five others, were convicted in 2021 for organising and participating in an unauthorised assembly during the prolonged anti-government demonstrations.
The court earlier nullified their conviction for organising the assembly, but upheld their convictions for participating in it.
On Monday, the Court of Final Appeal (CFA) unanimously denied their appeal regarding the remaining convictions.
Why was the appeal rejected?
The appeal hinged on whether their conviction was proportionate to fundamental human rights protections, based on the concept of "operational proportionality", as outlined in two non-binding decisions by the UK Supreme Court.
In their judgement, Chief Justice Andrew Cheung and Justice Roberto Ribeiro, stated that the British cases were not applicable to Hong Kong's courts due to the differences in the legal frameworks for human rights in the UK and Hong Kong.
The judges concluded that the activists' argument was "unsustainable" and "inconsistent with all established principles governing constitutional challenges in Hong Kong".
They further noted that conducting a separate proportionality analysis related to arrest, prosecution, conviction, and sentencing was "inappropriate and unnecessary".
For their roles in organising and participating in the unauthorised assembly in 2019, Lai and three former legislators — Lee Cheuk-yan, Leung Kwok-hung, and Cyd Ho — were sentenced to prison terms ranging from eight to 18 months.
The sentences were later reduced to three to six months after their convictions for organising the assembly were overturned.
Martin Lee, barrister Margaret Ng, and veteran pro-democracy politician Albert Ho received suspended sentences.
Meanwhile, Lai is facing another trial on charges of "sedition and collusion with foreign forces". He has been held in solitary confinement since December 2020.
In 2020, following the large-scale pro-democracy protests, Beijing introduced a national security law in Hong Kong. In March, Hong Kong's legislative council passed a new, stricter national security law known as Article 23.