A second likely reason for the flood of guilty pleas is related to the conduct of the trial itself. For accused who are in remand, the system is designed to break up the accused by making any court appearance extremely stressful. I created a chart comparing each defendant`s plea with their bail status: Among the 29 who pleaded guilty on Thursday were well-known dissidents and activists, including Wong and Benny Tai, a lawyer, Hong Kong media said. Both men are already serving prison sentences for protest convictions. Lorie Lai, Melody Yeung, Sidney Ng, Samuel Chan and Marco Fong, aged between 25 and 28 and all members of a speech-language pathologists` union, had pleaded not guilty. Lorie Lai, Melody Yeung, Sidney Ng, Samuel Chan and Marco Fong, aged between 25 and 28, had pleaded not guilty and decided not to testify or subpoena witnesses. They will be sentenced on Saturday. HONG KONG, Sept 7 (Reuters) – Five Hong Kong speech therapists were convicted on Wednesday of conspiracy to publish inflammatory children`s books deemed anti-government, a move condemned by human rights activists as a blow to freedom of expression in the Chinese-ruled city. The four teenagers, whom AFP did not name because of their age, pleaded guilty last month along with co-defendant Kwok Man-hei, 19. More than two dozen pro-democracy figures will plead guilty in Hong Kong`s best-known national security case, details that could be revealed after reporting restrictions were lifted on Thursday.

Hong Kong authorities said 29 of the 47 pro-democracy activists charged with “conspiracy to subversion” under a strict national security law pleaded guilty Thursday as the Beijing government continues to silence opposition voices in the regional financial hub. The Chinese tabloid called those who pleaded guilty Thursday “anti-China figures” and “separatists.” She quoted a Beijing-based jurist as saying, “After [US House Speaker Nancy ] Pelosi`s provocative visit [to Taiwan] and the release of the latest white paper on the Taiwan issue, I believe the crackdown on separatists will be an ongoing process.” Hong Kong was ceded from British rule to China in 1997 with the promise of maintaining its own legal, economic and social system for 50 years. Yet, despite the absurdity of the charges, nearly two-thirds of the accused plead guilty to a crime they clearly did not commit. What for? This overly broad incitement law violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which is incorporated into Hong Kong`s legal framework through the city`s de facto constitution, the Basic Law, and is reflected in the Bill of Rights Ordinance. In its recent periodic report on Hong Kong, the UN Human Rights Committee called on the Hong Kong government to repeal the incitement law and refrain from enforcing it. The UK repealed its own sedition law in 2009. (New York) – Hong Kong authorities should overturn the convictions of five people on sedition charges related to the publication of a series of children`s books, Human Rights Watch said today. On 7 September 2022, the District Court found the perpetrators guilty of “conspiracy to print, publish, distribute or display inflammatory publications” under the penal order. They face up to two years in prison after a mitigation hearing scheduled for September 10.

At a trial in June, 29 of the 47 defendants, including prominent activist Joshua Wong, former law professor Benny Tai, former lawmaker Claudia Mo, activist Jimmy Sham and union leader Winnie Yu, said they were guilty. It is unclear when they will formally present their pleas. According to Hong Kong authorities, 29 of the 47 pro-democracy activists charged with “conspiracy to subversion” under a comprehensive national security law have pleaded guilty in court. The trial has been going on for some time, but until this week, the judge had banned the journalists present (without legal basis) from publishing the contents of this trial. Following a court ruling last week on appeal by another political prisoner, the tireless Chow Hang Tung, the reporting ban was lifted. While news of events in the court has been circulating among journalists and activist networks for some time, the public has just learned the shocking news that 29 of the 47 defendants will plead guilty to subversion. Only 18 of them are on trial. Even by the standards of Beijing, which has long treated the Basic Law and the rights of the people of Hong Kong with contempt, the charges against the 47 were absurd.

How can the exercise of a right expressly authorized in city government documents constitute an illegal attempt to undermine the government? The arrests were a particularly brazen – and legally botched – move by Beijing to weed out remaining political opposition. China`s state-run newspaper The Global Times reported Thursday that in addition to Wong and Tai, former lawmakers Claudia Mo, Eddie Chu and Alvin Yeung have also pleaded guilty. Defence lawyers argued that the door should be left open for defendants to receive lighter sentences, given the typical reduction in guilty pleas. Among those who pleaded guilty were well-known political activists, including Joshua Wong and Benny Tai, Hong Kong media reported. Critics say Hong Kong`s legislation has eroded freedoms and brought continental-style Chinese laws to a business center known for its common law legal system. As the graph shows, there is a strong correlation between the fact that an accused is currently in prison and pleads guilty. 13 of the 47 accused are currently on bail, the remaining 34 are in custody. While a total of 62% of the accused (29 out of 47) have decided to plead guilty, only 15% (2 out of 13) of those currently out on bail will do so.

In other words, those currently in jail are much more likely to plead guilty, while those on bail have almost uniformly decided to contest the charges. They also warned that a guilty verdict would further criminalize political criticism and have a chilling effect on society. In these circumstances, many of the 47 people undoubtedly believe that a conviction is inevitable and that a guilty plea is the best chance of receiving a reduced sentence that will one day allow them to be released from prison.