The conviction of the ‘crimes' of Benny Tai and 45 other democracy personalities
The democracy activist, a former law professor at the University of Hong Kong, was today sentenced to 10 years in prison for organizing primary elections in 2020 together with 45 others. According to the judges – and Beijing – they were planning a “constitutional crisis”. But such a crisis is foreseen by the Basic Law.
Hong Kong (BC.it) – Benny Tai, 60, a Protestant Christian, democracy activist and former law professor at the University of Hong Kong, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for organizing primary elections in 2020. A three-judge court – without a jury – sentenced him along with 45 other democrats who took part in the primaries. The sentence was issued under the national security law imposed by Beijing on the territory in June 2020. The defendants include well-known figures in the democracy movement, such as Joshua Wong, journalists such as Gwyneth Ho, and parliamentarians such as Claudia Mo. The sentences range from 7 to 4 years.
The primary elections of July 2020 were intended to choose the most electable candidates in the democratic camp who could win a majority in the Hong Kong parliament (Legco). That done, they would have vetoed the government's proposals, up to having it resign, if it did not respond to the "5 demands" that the democratic movement raised after more than a year of demonstrations and harsh silence from the government: the complete withdrawal of the law on extraditions to China; the withdrawal of the definition of "riots" given to the protests; freedom for people arrested during the demonstrations; an independent investigation into the actions of the police and their excessive use of force; resignation of Governor Carrie Lam and introduction of universal suffrage for the territory.
In every country, primary elections take place and are seen as a way to get more people to participate in the elections. Instead, Beijing immediately defined the primaries as "illegal" and the secretary of justice of Hong Kong immediately branded them as contrary to the law on national security. According to the government of Hong Kong, an excessive use of the veto would have led to a constitutional crisis, destroying the life and work of the territory. In reality, the Basic Law (the mini-constitution that regulates Hong Kong) provides for the possibility of vetoing even several times and provides for the fall of the government and the calling of new elections. But for Beijing, the government and now for the judges, this is not the case: for them, the democrats intended to abuse their powers to veto “indiscriminately” the government’s economic report, forcing the head of the executive to resign. The judges mainly rule on the inventor of the primaries, Benny Tai, whose aim – according to them – was to “undermine, destroy or overthrow the existing political system and the structure of Hong Kong, established under the Basic Law and the policy of One Country, Two Systems”, sinking the territory into a “constitutional crisis”.
Ironically, in the past years, Benny Tai had been chosen by the government as an expert on the Basic Law and had taught its characteristics to all public administration employees. Now, after the Beijing security law, the expert on the Basic Law has become the worst criminal. Another irony is that the elections following the primaries were not held. The government – in agreement with Beijing – first delayed the date, then changed the method of choosing candidates, verifying their “patriotism” through a government commission. So now the Hong Kong parliament has an almost total majority (minus one) of pro-Beijing MPs.
Most of the accused have spent over three and a half years in prison awaiting trial, which came today. It is not known whether the judges will take this into account and reduce their prison terms accordingly.
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