Leading Hong Kong activist Lee Cheuk-yan has declared that history acquits those on trial after pleading guilty to media mogul Jimmy Lai for attending an unauthorized meeting.
The two are standing with former Democratic Party chairman Yeung Sum on charges of a pro-democracy protest on August 31, 2019, which was not authorized by police.
Lee and Lai were among another group of people convicted last week of organizing and participating in an unauthorized rally on August 18 of the same year, in which they pleaded not guilty. The court showed video footage of the trio during the protest and media footage of Lee and Lai defending people’s participation, RTHK reported.
On Wednesday, the three pleaded guilty to the latest charge, but Lee told the court they “did nothing wrong and history will acquit us”, according to local media.
“We believe it is pointless to continue our legal challenge when we already had such a strong case in our trial on August 18 for the charges we have been assigned for our role,” he said.
“We’ve lost that case but will continue to appeal for our rights, but we do not want to repeat the same legal argument in this case. We also want to show that we are willing to pay the price as so many Hong Kongers have. ”
The trio must face up to five years in prison for the participation offense.
More than 10,000 people have been arrested or prosecuted for the 2019 Hong Kong protests, and at least 100 have been arrested under national security law since it was imposed by Beijing as part of a crackdown on political opposition. Lai, who has been in jail for most of December, is among those facing charges under the law.
On the 13th consecutive weekend of protests, the protest on 31 August was originally called off by organizers after police arrested pro-democracy lawmakers and activists, but the crowd protested regardless.
The protest began earlier in the day as a peaceful march and escalated into violence and chaos, with protesters and police clashing in various places in the city. The Guardian reported at the time that police used water cannons, tear gas, pepper spray and ‘warning shots’ of live rounds in response to protesters around the government and police headquarters. Elsewhere, riot police stormed the Prince Edward tube station and used batons to hit passengers.
On video recordings, police protesters were chased with pepper spray that was in a train carriage and others were chased onto the platform and arrested. Police later said they had arrested at least 40 protesters.
In a separate case, 30-year-old activist Andy Li appeared in court on Wednesday on charges of crimes against national security. According to reporters at the scene, Li was brought to court in a police van along with the armed police and a convoy of officers on motorcycles.
Li was one of 12 Hong Kongers intercepted by Chinese authorities and sent to prison after fleeing Taiwan by boat. His family has repeatedly expressed concern about the lack of access to Li, the knowledge of his whereabouts and his access to a chosen lawyer.