Thread by @JessiePang0125

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai and nine other pro-democracy activists are expected to be sentenced on Friday after they were found guilty of participating in unauthorised assemblies during #HongKongProtests in 2019. reut.rs/2Q5JToJ

Lai was found guilty in two separate trials earlier in April for illegal assemblies on Aug. 18 and Aug. 31 2019, respectively. He is scheduled for two more court mentions, including collusion with a foreign country and a fraud case.

In the Aug. 18 case, District Court judge Amanda Woodcock found him guilty together with Martin Lee, Margaret Ng, Lee Cheuk-yan, Albert Ho, Leung Kwok-hung, Cyd Ho, Au Nok-hin and Leung Yiu-chung. The latter two had pleaded guilty.

In the second trial, the same judge found Lai and Lee Cheuk-yan guilty together with Yeung Sum. All three had pleaded guilty.

Earlier on, Lai sent to a handwritten letter to his colleagues from prison: “It is our responsibility as journalists to seek justice. As long as we are not blinded by unjust temptations, as long as we do not let evil get its way through us, we are fulfilling our responsibility.”

Before entering the court, “Father of democracy” Martin Lee said: “I feel completely relaxed, I’m ready to face my sentence.”

“The law should give protection to rights, not to take them away, especially in HK, where structural democracy is still absent. The people relied on the law to protect them, and the court are the ultimate arbiter of the law,” said Barrister Margaret Ng in her mitigation speech.

“We are mindful that when the court applies a law which takes away fundamental rights, the confidence in the courts and judicial independence is shaken, even though the fault lies in the law, not to use it uphold the system which their rights and freedoms are protected by law.”

"When the people,in the last resort,had to give collective expression to their anguish and urge the government to respond,protected only by their expectation that the government will respect their rights,I must be prepared to stand with them,stand by them and stand up for them.”

Full speech by Margaret Ng: thestandnews.com/politics/%E8%8…

Jimmy Lai faces two more charge in his #nsl case. Apart from collusion with foreign forces, he’s also charged with conspiracy to collude with foreign force and conspiracy to obstruct the course of justice of assisting @andy_is_missing. The case is adjourned to June 15

His fraud case is adjourned to 6 May.

Combined and concurrent sentence terms:
D1 Jimmy Lai 12 Months
D2 Lee Cheuk Yan 12 Months
D3 Margaret Ng 12M, Suspended 24M
D4 Leung Kwok Hung 18M
D5 Cyd Ho 8M
D6 Albert Ho 12M, Suspended 24M
D7 Leung Yiu Chung 8M, Suspended 12M
D8 Martin Lee 11M, Suspended 24M
D9 @loktinau 10M

Sentencing for 8.31:
Yeung Shum got 8 months sentencing, suspended 12 months
Jimmy Lai got 8 months
Lee Cheuk Yan got 6 months

Jimmy Lai and Lee Cheuk Yan need to serve 14 months in prison all together.