Jailed Hong Kong mogul Jimmy Lai said he was willing to “suffer the penalty” as a court prepared to sentence him and a group of democracy activists for attending a banned Tiananmen vigil.
Lai, the 74-year-old Catholic owner of the now-shuttered pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, was found guilty of unlawful assembly charges alongside former journalist Gwyneth Ho and prominent rights lawyer Chow Hang-tung last week.
He is among a group of eight activists who were due to be sentenced on Dec. 13.
Their case wraps up a lengthy prosecution of some two dozen campaigners over a banned vigil last year and comes as Hong Kong authorities increasingly stamp out commemorations for democracy protesters killed by Chinese troops in the 1989 crackdown.
The activists were among thousands who defied a police ban to gather in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park in June 4, 2020.
Some gave speeches and interviews with reporters calling on Hong Kongers to light candles wherever they happened to be.
Remember those who shed the blood but do not remember the cruelty … may the power of love prevail over the power of destruction
Others such as Lai only turned up at the event and lit a candle — an action judge Amanda Woodcock ruled nonetheless counted as “inciting” people to join an unlawful assembly because of his fame and notoriety.
During mitigation on Dec. 13, Lai’s lawyer Robert Pang read out a personal statement from the media mogul.
“If commemorating those who died for justice is a crime, then inflict on me that crime and let me suffer the penalty so I may share the glory burden of those young men and women who shed their blood on June 4,” Lai said.
“Remember those who shed the blood but do not remember the cruelty … may the power of love prevail over the power of destruction.”
Thank you. You are now signed up to Daily newsletter
Chow, a lawyer who represented herself at the trial, used her mitigation to describe the convictions as “one step in the systemic erasure of history, both of the Tiananmen massacre and Hong Kong’s own history of civic resistance”.
She said Hong Kong’s courts were “in effect affirming the unequal power wielded by the government” against critics by convicting people like her for taking part in protests.
“People moved by conscience cannot be deterred by jail,” Chow added. “Rest assured that the candlelight will live on, despite bans and ever more restrictive laws.”
Five other defendants in the case had previously pleaded guilty. A further 16 people, including jailed young democracy campaigner Joshua Wong, have already been sentenced in separate prosecutions.
The sentences will make minimal difference to most of the convicted.
Multiple defendants are already serving jail time for taking part in democracy protests. Activists such as Lai, Ho, and Chow are also facing separate national security prosecutions that could lead to life sentences.
Support UCA News…
….as we enter the last months of 2021, we are asking readers like you to help us keep UCA News free.
For the last 40 years, UCA News has remained the most trusted and independent Catholic news and information service from Asia. Every week, we publish nearly 100 news reports, feature stories, commentaries, podcasts and video broadcasts that are exclusive and in-depth, and developed from a view of the world and the Church through informed Catholic eyes.
Our journalistic standards are as high as any in the quality press; our focus is particularly on a fast-growing part of the world – Asia – where, in some countries the Church is growing faster than pastoral resources can respond to – South Korea, Vietnam and India to name just three.
And UCA News has the advantage of having in its ranks local reporters who cover 23 countries in south, southeast, and east Asia. We report the stories of local people and their experiences in a way that Western news outlets simply don’t have the resources to reach. And we report on the emerging life of new Churches in old lands where being a Catholic can at times be very dangerous.
With dwindling support from funding partners in Europe and the USA, we need to call on the support of those who benefit from our work.
Click here to find out the ways you can support UCA News. You can make a difference for as little as US$5…
Credit: Source link