Supporters of Hong Kong Activist Given Jail Time for Clapping in Court - WSJ

October 28, 2022 4 min 688 words

这么标题党要不要脸啊，这人要在美国这么干，早就被突突了，还轮得着上法庭？

Pastor and retiree are found guilty of sedition by magistrate who said their actions would bring hatred toward the city’s justice system

Updated Oct. 27, 2022 10:52 am ET

HONG KONG—Two supporters of a prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist were given jail sentences on Thursday for clapping and uttering comments in the public gallery during one of her courtroom appearances, reflecting the widening ambit of authorities’ efforts to eliminate dissent in the city.

A pastor and a retiree were convicted of sedition for their behavior at the January sentencing of one of the city’s leading China critics, lawyer Chow Hang-tung. Ms. Chow, an organizer of vigils commemorating 1989’s Tiananmen Square massacre who has been in jail since last year, has faced multiple charges and court appearances that have drawn supporters to cheer her on.

Pastor Garry Pang Moon-yuen, the founder of an online church, was also convicted of another charge related to comments he made on YouTube criticizing Hong Kong’s justice system. He was sentenced to a year in prison. Chiu Mei-ying, 68 years old, was sentenced to three months in jail, but was granted bail pending an appeal.

The case was the first under Hong Kong’s national-security crackdown that targeted courtroom behavior by supporters of activists.

The convictions send a warning to people who publicly express support for high-profile pro-democracy activists who have been arrested in the campaign to crush dissent that followed citywide antigovernment protests in 2019. The duo were among court goers who often attend court hearings to show solidarity with those facing charges.

Chinese state-owned media in Hong Kong have targeted such supporters as remnants of the protest movement, saying such people have kept up “soft resistance” and needed to be suppressed.

Hong Kong’s courts are busy dealing with cases related to the city’s national security crackdown launched by China in mid-2020. On Tuesday, Jimmy Lai, the founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was convicted on a fraud charge .

The U.S. State Department called the case against Mr. Lai spurious and said Wednesday that it remains deeply concerned by local authorities’ increased efforts “to suppress independent media, to silence dissenting views, and to stifle freedom of speech” using the national security law. Mr. Lai is awaiting trial on more serious national security charges that could see him jailed for life.

Hong Kong authorities said Thursday in response that all law enforcement actions are based on evidence and not based on any political factors.

At the January hearing involving the Tiananmen activist, Ms. Chow, her supporters sat in the public gallery for her sentencing after she had been found guilty of inciting unlawful assembly, relating to her role as an organizer of annual vigils for people killed at Tiananmen Square.

From the dock, Ms. Chow argued her conviction had effectively criminalized public memorials of those events that had been held annually in Hong Kong for decades, and curtailed freedom of expression.

Her supporters applauded as Ms. Chow tearfully read out eulogies for protesters slain by Chinese soldiers around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

When the judge threatened to have court marshals record the personal details of those who clapped, Mr. Pang, the pastor, urged others to stand up and admit doing so, then said the magistrate had lost her conscience.

Ms. Chiu responded to his call and said “this is ridiculous” and “there is no law anymore,” according to the verdict.

By criticizing the magistrate for not ruling in accordance with the law, the pair would bring hatred and contempt toward Hong Kong’s administration of justice, the magistrate who gave Thursday’s ruling said in his verdict.

Write to Selina Cheng at [email protected]