Jawad Iqbal Jawad Iqbal

Hong Kong’s justice system is an insult to democracy

Jimmy Lai (Credit: Getty images)

Lord David Neuberger of Abbotsbury, the British lawyer who sits on Hong Kong’s highest court, needs to take a long hard look in the mirror. The territory’s court of final appeal has upheld verdicts and prison sentences against some of Hong Kong’s leading pro-democracy activists for taking part in a peaceful protest in 2019. The court ruling has been decried as ‘unjust’ by Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong before the territory was returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

The court unanimously agreed to uphold the convictions of seven activists who participated in the the unauthorised 2019 protests, during which 1.7 million people took to the streets in opposition to Beijing’s growing control of the territory. Those appealing against the verdicts included Jimmy Lai, a British citizen and founder of the now shuttered Apple Daily newspaper who supported the anti-Beijing protests. Alongside other charges, he was additionally sentenced to 14 months in prison for this.

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