The NGO denounces that the authorities “arbitrarily” apply the law “to repress the movement for democracy”
MADRID, 20 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated this Wednesday that the sentences against the 45 Hong Kong dissidents within the framework of the national security law “highlight the terrible human rights situation” in the region, so has asked the authorities to annul the sentences and release the convicted “immediately”, and has pointed out that the authorities are “arbitrarily” applying an ambiguous law “to repress the movement for democracy.
“The cruel sentences imposed on dozens of prominent democracy activists demonstrate how quickly civil liberties and the rule of law in Hong Kong have plummeted in the four years since the Chinese government imposed the draconian National Security Law on the city,” said HRW’s associate director for China, Maya Wang, who criticized that “trying to run and win an election in Hong Kong is now a crime that carries up to ten years in prison.”
HRW has called on governments to “go beyond criticizing these outrageous convictions on false charges, and apply targeted sanctions to the officials responsible and take other concrete actions.” “They must work for a more comprehensive strategy on China, incorporating human rights at the center of their relations with the Chinese government,” Wang added.
Likewise, he has denounced that “many aspects” of the detention and the process have violated international standards of due process, including prolonged preventive detention, since some of them have been imprisoned for more than three years. They have also repeatedly denied consular officials access, as required by International Law, to a citizen with Australian nationality.
The people sentenced this Tuesday are part of the group (aged between 26 and 68) known as ‘the Hong Kong 47’, and among them are activists, deputies and councilors accused of conspiring to “commit acts of subversion” in the framework of the 2020 primary elections.
The jurist Benny Tai has received the highest sentence, ten years in prison, after being found guilty of being the “mastermind” of the alleged conspiracy against the Government. He was originally given a 15-year sentence, but it was reduced to ten after judges took into account his guilty plea.
Joshua Wong, one of the most visible faces of the movement, has been sentenced to four years and eight months in prison after receiving a reduction of one third after admitting the commission of the crimes with which he was accused.