Four pro-democracy lawmakers from the group known as the “Hong Kong 47” were released from prison on Tuesday after serving more than four years in custody, much of it spent awaiting trial. Their release comes amid ongoing international concern over the sweeping impact of the Beijing-imposed National Security Law (NSL) on civil liberties, political opposition, and judicial independence in the former British colony.
Claudia Mo, Kwok Ka-ki, Jeremy Tam and Gary Fan – well-known figures in Hong Kong’s now-dismantled pro-democracy movement – were among 47 politicians, campaigners, academics and community leaders tried together in the city’s largest national security trial to date. The group had been arrested in early 2021, following mass dawn raids across the city, and charged with subversion under the NSL.
The charges stemmed from an unofficial primary election held in July 2020, just days after the NSL came into force. More than 600,000 Hongkongers participated in the poll, which was organised to help the pro-democracy camp select candidates for upcoming Legislative Council (LegCo) elections.
Organisers had described this strategy as a way to oppose and frustrate the implementation of the NSL from within the system – a peaceful but confrontational use of parliamentary procedure. However, authorities swiftly declared the primaries “illegal”, accusing those involved of plotting to paralyse the government. Prosecutors later advanced that claim in court, describing the primaries as a “vicious plot” to paralyse the government, and a serious threat to national security that “may fall into the category of subverting the state power” under the NSL.
While sentencing only took place in November 2024, many defendants, including the four released this week, had already spent years behind bars after being denied bail. Their time in pre-trial detention, an unprecedented length in Hong Kong’s common-law tradition, was counted toward their sentences.
The remaining members of the group are still serving longer sentences, with prominent legal scholar Benny Tai receiving the harshest punishment of more than 10 years. Only two of the 47 were acquitted, making them the first individuals to beat a national security charge since the law took effect.
The four released on Tuesday were held in three different prisons. Mo, a veteran journalist and legislator, was detained at Lo Wu Correctional Institution. Fan was held at Shek Pik, while Tam and Kwok – both former senior members of the now-disbanded Civic Party – were incarcerated at Stanley Prison. Local media reported that unmarked vehicles collected the four in the early morning hours. Police reportedly erected barriers to keep journalists at bay and prevent vehicles from being followed – an indication, according to The Times, of the authorities’ lingering unease about public support for the group.
Since its introduction in June 2020, the National Security Law has dramatically altered Hong Kong’s political and legal landscape. Designed to criminalise acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign collusion – terms that are deliberately vague and easily weaponised to suppress dissent – the law bypassed Hong Kong’s legislature and was imposed directly by China’s National People’s Congress.
As of August 2024, police had arrested more than 300 individuals under the NSL, with around 60% formally charged. Those targeted include almost every prominent pro-democracy figure in the territory, including lawmakers, student leaders, unionists, journalists and civil society organisers.
Dozens of organisations have also dissolved under legal pressure, while nearly all independent media outlets have been silenced. In 2021, Apple Daily, a widely read pro-democracy newspaper, was forced to shut down after its assets were frozen. Its founder, 75-year-old British citizen Jimmy Lai, remains in prison, facing trial for alleged “foreign collusion”. Authorities have repeatedly denied him bail, and barred his choice of overseas lawyer.
International reaction to the prolonged legal process has been damning. The UK’s then Minister for the Indo-Pacific, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who attended court when the verdicts were delivered in May 2024, said the case “sends a message that Hong Kongers can no longer safely and meaningfully participate in peaceful political debate”. The United States, the European Union, and Australia also condemned the proceedings as politically motivated. Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong expressed particular concern for Gordon Ng, one of the convicted, who is an Australian citizen.
The crackdown represents a flagrant breach of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, under which China agreed to preserve Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms for 50 years after the 1997 handover. The agreement enshrined the “one country, two systems” principle, intended to protect Hong Kong’s judicial independence and civil liberties until at least 2047.
“Hong Kong’s National Security Law is a clear breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Its continued existence and use is a demonstration of China breaking its international commitments,” the UK’s then Foreign Secretary David Cameron said in a December 2023 statement, noting that the law has “significantly eroded” rights and freedoms in the city and “silenced opposition voices”.
For the four newly released lawmakers, freedom remains conditional. Restrictions on speech, movement and political activity continue to apply under the terms of their release. As their case illustrates, in Hong Kong today, even freedom is heavily qualified.
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