Hong Kong jails all 45 pro-democracy activists in largest security case
Al Jazeera
Academic Benny Tai sentenced to 10 years, while others receive sentences of between four years and seven years.
Taipei, Taiwan – A Hong Kong court has sentenced a leading pro-democracy advocate to 10 years in prison and handed dozens of other activists jail terms of between four and seven years in the Chinese territory’s largest national security case.
Benny Tai, a legal scholar who played a leading role in Hong Kong’s 2019 anti-government protests, was handed the lengthy sentence on Tuesday after prosecutors cast him as the “organiser” of a conspiracy by pro-democracy activists and politicians dating back to July 2020.
Tai and 44 others were previously found guilty of offences related to organising an official primary election to choose pro-democracy candidates for the city’s legislature.
The would-be legislators had hoped to vote down the city’s budget and force the city’s leader to dissolve the legislature.
Prosecutors alleged that the group plotted to “overthrow” the government.
In last day of campaigning for Republican, Democratic presidential candidates, polls indicate race couldn’t be tighter.
My grandfather survived the first Nakba in 1948; he didn’t make it to the end of the second – this war waged by Israel.
Trump’s first term showed that while a win for him could help Russia in Ukraine, it would bring its own challenges, too.
The candidates will hold rallies in Nevada today, where Harris will be joined by Jennifer Lopez.