45 Hong Kong Democrats are convicted in a historic trial, which sparks criticism.

Following large-scale pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019, the Chinese and Hong Kong governments claim that the national security laws were required to restore order, and that the democrats have been treated in compliance with local regulations.Two Democrats were acquitted following a 118-day trial, but 14 Democrats—including Australian citizen Gordon Ng and campaigners Owen Chow and Gwyneth Ho—were convicted guilty in May. All 45 received sentences ranging from four to ten years, while the remaining 31 entered guilty pleas. Ho, who received a seven-year prison sentence, stated on Facebook, “Our true crime for Beijing is that we were not content with playing along in manipulated elections.”

“We dared to confront the regime with the question: will democracy ever be possible within such a structure? The answer was a complete crackdown on all fronts of society.”

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she was “gravely concerned” about the sentences, and called on China to “cease suppression of freedoms of expression, assembly, media and civil society,” in Hong Kong.

Judges Andrew Chan, Alex Lee, and Johnny Chan said that they used a “holistic assessment” to determine the appropriate punishment, taking into account elements such as the level of planning, the number of participants, and the potential injuries caused, regardless of whether the scheme would have occurred or not.

“In order to succeed, the organisers and participants might have hurdles to overcome, that however was expected in every subversion case where efforts were made to overthrow or paralyse a government. We therefore rejected the proposition that the Scheme was doomed to fail and that a lighter sentence should be imposed,” the judges wrote.