HONG KONG (Reuters) – The first batch of individuals jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of “47 democrats” accused of conspiracy to commit subversion was freed on Tuesday after being behind bars for over four years.
Local media had reported that four former pro-democracy lawmakers, including Claudia Mo, Kwok Ka-ki, Jeremy Tam and Gary Fan would be freed on Tuesday from three separate prisons across Hong Kong.
A Reuters witness outside Stanley Prison, where Kwok and Tam were held, saw several vehicles leave just before dawn. A police officer told reporters they had left. Vehicles were also seen leaving the more remote Shek Pik Prison on Lantau Island.
Since large and sustained pro-democracy protests erupted in Hong Kong for most of 2019, China has cracked down on the democratic opposition as well as liberal civil society and media outlets under sweeping national security laws.
The 47 pro-democracy campaigners were arrested and charged in early 2021 with conspiracy to commit subversion under a Beijing-imposed national law which carried sentences of up to life in prison.
Forty-five of these were convicted following a marathon trial, with sentences of up to 10 years. Only two were acquitted.
(Reporting by James Pomfret, Jessie Pang, Anne-Marie Roantree and Tyrone Siu; Editing by Richard Chang)
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