Twelve Hong Kongers were incarcerated on Saturday March 16 for storming Parliament in 2019, at the height of pro-democracy protests. This episode was the most violent at the start of the large-scale protest which had shaken this territory in southern China, with weeks of demonstrations and rallies, constituting an unprecedented challenge to the authority of Beijing.
During the night of July 1, 2019, the 22nd anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to China by the United Kingdom, hundreds of demonstrators hostile to the local government – ??favorable to Beijing – broke into the local Parliament, the Legislative Council ( LegCo). After forcing the entrance guarded by the police, they unfurled the flag of the British colonial era, broke windows and covered walls with graffiti.
Fourteen people were charged with rioting, punishable by up to ten years in prison, and for other minor offenses, such as entering the chamber and committing willful damage. Twelve of them were sentenced to sentences ranging from six and a half to seven years in prison for rioting. They will benefit from reduced sentences, in particular for having pleaded guilty and for medical reasons, and will spend between fifty-four and eighty-two months in detention.
Two former journalists, among 12 people on trial, were found guilty of taking part in riots and fined 1,500 Hong Kong dollars (around 180 euros) for “entering or remaining in the Legislative Council Chamber “. Deputy District Court Judge Li Chi-ho on Saturday highlighted the symbolic significance of this invasion of Parliament and its “lasting effects” on society.
Well-wishers in tears
“Apart from the actual damage caused to the building, the assault had a symbolic significance…[which] consisted of challenging the Hong Kong government and even weakening its governance,” Li Chi-ho said. According to him, the accused committed “insulting and provocative” acts, by tearing up copies of the Basic Law which governs the territory.
As they left the courtroom, the defendants greeted the audience and many of their relatives and supporters were in tears.
Days earlier, some defendants who had pleaded guilty made provocative speeches in the courtroom. “The real crime committed by the protesters is the pursuit of democracy, freedom of thought and free will,” said Althea Suen, a children’s rights activist and former student leader.
Owen Chow, charged with conspiracy to commit subversion in another national security trial, said a “riot [is] the language of the unheard,” citing the famous civil rights activist Martin Luther King.
More than 10,000 people have been arrested as authorities seek to stifle the pro-democracy movement. In 2020, Beijing imposed a draconian national security law on Hong Kong that criminalized most dissent and crushed the movement.
