Hong Kong activist who tried to seek asylum at US consulate found guilty of
A Hong Kong court has found the former leader of pro-independence group Studentlocalism guilty of secession and money laundering under the city’s sweeping national security law, after a plea bargain.
Tony Chung, 20, was charged with the offences in October last year and denied bail. Chung and two others were detained by unidentified men at a coffee shop near the US consulate early on 27 October. Chung’s supporters said at the time he had been intending to seek political asylum. They said Chung had submitted his paperwork weeks earlier, but fear of an imminent arrest prompted him to seek shelter at the consulate.
Chung entered a plea bargain, admitting guilt on the charge of secession and one count of money laundering and pleading not guilty to a sedition charge and another money laundering accusation.
Prosecutor Ivan Cheung said he acted as an administrator for the Facebook pages of the US branch of Studentlocalism and an organisation called the Initiative Independence Party.
Pro-independence T-shirts, flags and books were also seized from his home, the prosecutor said. The money laundering charge is related to donations he received via PayPal.
“I have a clear conscience,” Chung said in his plea.
District court judge Stanley Chan said the sentence will be announced on 23 November.
Like other anti-government organisations, Studentlocalism disbanded before Beijing imposed the security law in June 2020, to punish anything it deems as subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.
Since the enactment of the law, Hong Kong has taken a swift authoritarian turn, with most democratic politicians now in jail or in self-exile, dozens of civil society organisations folding, and international rights groups leaving the city.
Chinese and Hong Kong authorities deny the security law tramples individual rights and say the legislation was necessary to restore stability after mass protests in 2019 when millions took to the streets over many months.
The former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the promise of a high degree of autonomy, which democracy activists and western governments say was broken – an allegation China vehemently denies.
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