Dozens of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong have been sentenced under the territory’s national security law. To find out more, TaiwanPlus speaks to former Hong Kong district councilor Michael Mo.
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00:00And did anything about the sentencing surprise you?
00:02Of course, they should not, they should have never been in the jail in the first place.
00:09But looking into the length of their sentences, I think the handpicked national security judges
00:19in Hong Kong referenced similar offences in China to pretty much hand down that kind of length,
00:29and also considered whether they pleaded guilty or not. So it is not quite a surprise
00:37in that sense, because we compare what the prominent Chinese activists in China,
00:45like Lu Xiaobo or Li Wanyang, they pretty much face a similar length of sentences, just like
00:52Bandai Tai. But what surprised me is that the handpicked national security judges didn't go
00:59all the length to reference the recent sentencing of those Chinese dissidents,
01:07which face two decades of imprisonment.
01:10The unofficial primaries, were they really unofficial? What was their goal there?
01:15So according to the laws of Hong Kong, there is no recognised primary election of any kind.
01:25So that's why it is an unofficial one that is held mandatory by democracy. The Hong Kong
01:31authorities didn't go after the organisers or the candidates of these unofficial primaries
01:37before the NSL has been imposed. But soon after the NSL came into force,
01:44it is the Hong Kong authorities, one of the ministers, warned that such an unofficial
01:52primary calling for the five major demands of the Hong Kong's democratic movement
01:58were deemed illegal under the such law.
02:01What's your reaction to hearing the sentencing? I mean, obviously we knew it's coming for a long
02:08time, but for Hong Kongers and for you being so involved in the pro-democracy movement,
02:14what did that feel like?
02:16I think because of the case has been dragged for so long that a length of the sentences itself
02:27is rather not so striking to me, rationally. Emotionally, I would say,
02:41I just imagine it might be a relief for some of the people who I know, some of them,
02:48I'm like my friends, might be a bit relieved to see that there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
02:59This is quite a paradoxical situation, isn't it? But it is what it is. I just simply hope that
03:06when they could set foot to freedom, they could just enjoy their lives and
03:14hope to see them one day soon.