Hong Kong’s top court on Monday unanimously dismissed the bid to overturn the convictions of media tycoon Jimmy Lai and six other pro-democracy campaigners for an unauthorised assembly in 2019.
Lai, 76, the founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, and six others including veteran democrat Martin Lee had been found guilty of organising and participating in an unauthorised assembly in August 2019 during months-long pro-democracy protests in the China-ruled city.
The judgment came two months after the resignations of two British judges from Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal (CFA), Lawrence Collins and Jonathan Sumption. Sumption said Hong Kong was becoming a totalitarian state and the city’s rule of law had been “profoundly compromised”.
Neuberger said he agree with the main judgement, adding the “issue has been fully and impressively considered” and “gives important guidance as to the proper approach to what has been called “operational proportionality”.
Neuberger added the constitutional differences in Hong Kong and the U.K. “do not mandate a different approach when considering whether a restriction on the right of assembly is proportionate”, but they “do require a different approach if the court concludes that the restriction is or may not be proportionate”.
Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020 after months of pro-democracy protests in 2019 and the Hong Kong legislative council passed a new national security law, also known as Article 23 in March.
For organising and taking part in an unauthorised assembly in 2019, Lai and three former lawmakers Lee Cheuk-yan, 67, “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung, 68 and Cyd Ho, 70 were jailed between eight and 18 months. They received a reduced sentence of 3 to 6 months after their conviction for organising was quashed.
