Hong Kong court upholds convictions of Cardinal Joseph Zen and others over protester relief fund
The five were fined 4,000 Hong Kong dollars each after the court upheld convictions over a fund that paid protesters’ legal and medical costs.
- On Thursday, a Hong Kong court dismissed appeals by 94-year-old Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen and four others over their 2022 convictions for failing to register a now-defunct relief fund.
- The five were fined $512 each in 2022 for breaching the Societies Ordinance, which requires organizations to register or apply for exemption within one month of establishment.
- Zen served as trustee of the Humanitarian Relief Fund, which paid medical and legal fees for protesters arrested during 2019 anti-government demonstrations until ceasing operations in October 2021.
- Although not charged under Beijing-imposed measures, the group faced arrests in 2022 on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces, a law significantly impacting Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement.
- The case draws attention to religious freedoms in Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997, as authorities insist the law remains necessary for the city's stability.
44 Articles
44 Articles
Hong Kong Misuses Colonial-era Law to Violate Rights
Click to expand Image Former trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, following a verdict at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts in Hong Kong, November 25, 2022. © 2022 Lam Yik/Bloomberg via Getty Images Organizing a group to help people in distress used to be something Hong Kong people could do without fear. Not anymore.On September 3, the Hong Kong Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction of five 612 Humanitarian Fund trustees for failing…
Hong Kong court upholds conviction of pro-democracy humanitarian fund organizers
A Hong Kong appellate court on Thursday upheld the conviction of five pro-democracy activists for their failure to register the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, created to support pro-democracy protesters during the 2019 Hong Kong protests, under the Societies Ordinance (Cap 151). The decision exemplifies concerns about the rule of law and civil society restrictions in Hong Kong. The fund’s trustees appealed their convictions to the Hong Kong Court…
Hong Kong Court Upholds Cardinal Joseph Zen’s Conviction
A Hong Kong court on Thursday upheld a ruling against retired bishop and democracy advocate Cardinal Joseph Zen and four co-defendants for failing to register the humanitarian fund they created to help protesters arrested during the pro-democracy uprising of 2019.
Hong Kong appeals court rejects Zen’s appeal in relief fund case
Hong Kong’s appeals court on Thursday dismissed an appeal by Cardinal Joseph Zen against his 2022 conviction in relation to his role as a trustee of a relief fund.The three judges on the appeals court upheld the lower court’s ruling that the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund was legally considered a “society” and should have been registered as such.Zen and the four other former trustees of the fund announced at a press conference after the ruling tha…
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