A coalition of Latin American anti-communist activists, including Cuban dissidents who suffer regular repression on the island, organized a multi-continental set of peaceful …
A coalition of Latin American anti-communist activists, including Cuban dissidents who suffer regular repression on the island, organized a multi-continental set of peaceful assemblies Thursday calling for the freedom of 47 pro-democracy activists arrested in Hong Kong for allegedly violating an illegal “national security” law. Pro-democracy voices in Cuba, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, the United States, Uruguay, and Mexico have vowed to join the campaign, which organizers have branded #Free47 in honor of those imprisoned. The Chinese Communist Party, through its National People’s Congress, passed a law in May 2020 requiring minimum prison sentences of ten years in prison for individuals in Hong Kong found guilty of four crimes: “secession,” “terrorism,” “incitement of foreign interference,” and “subversion of state power.” Under the “One Country, Two Systems” policy that legally governs Hong Kong, Beijing’s laws do not apply in the formally autonomous region, but Hong Kong police have enforced the national security law, anyway. The 47 arrested are facing charges of subversion for participating in a primary election organized by pro-democracy parties seeking candidates to run for positions in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, the governing lawmaking body that legally plays the role the NPC does in Beijing. The Hong Kong government outlawed the primary, which activists noted was more of an informal “poll,” and arrested the candidates. Over half a million Hong Kong voters participated in the primary despite warnings from the Chinese-controlled government that it was illegal. Hong Kong threatened to arrest all 600,000 of them, but settled for placing the 47 biggest names involved in prison. Among the most prominent of those imprisoned is the convener of the Civil Human Rights Front, the often-assaulted Jimmy Sham; fired professor Benny Tai, who lost his job after organizing protests in 2014 and went on to organize the primary; and several expelled lawmakers including Claudia Mo, Jeremy Tam, Helena Wong.
