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Hong Kong Sees First Guilty Pleas Under National Security Law
Posted
August 19, 2021
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1:27Now PlayingA pair of Hong Kong activists Andy Li and legal assistant Chan Tsz-wah agreed to the description Thursday in the High Court after entering guilty pleas to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security.
The guilty pleas are the first in Hong Kong under the Beijing-imposed security law, which bans secession, subversion, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces, and carries prison sentences as long as life in prison. More than 130 people -- including journalists, activists and former lawmakers -- have been arrested under the legislation and the U.S. has sanctioned Chinese officials including Chief Executive Carrie Lam over the crackdown.
The two men admitted that Jimmy Lai and a former top aide, Mark Simon, organized efforts to encourage U.S. sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials and Huawei Technologies Co., prosecutors said.
Prosecutors have also accused Lai of trying to help Li and 11 other activists try to flee to democratically run Taiwan, in a case that attracted international attention. Representatives from the consulates of Germany, Sweden, Australia and the U.K. attended the hearing.
Lai’s Apple Daily closed in June under government pressure. The pro-democracy newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Ryan Law, and publisher, Cheung Kim-hung, are being held on charges they conspired with Lai and others to get foreign forces to impose sanctions or a blockade, or engage in other hostile activities against Hong Kong or China.
Lai himself is in prison for his roles in unauthorized protests, and he is facing separate national security charges on allegations that he colluded with foreign powers. Li served a seven-month sentence on the mainland on charges of illegal border crossing before being returned to Hong Kong in March.
Separately, 47 activists and politicians charged with subversion under the security law for participating in an unofficial primary election last year are set to appear in court in September.
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