Cardinal Joseph Zen and four others face monetary fines, but it’s unclear whether they will face further prosecution.
A panel of three appellate judges in Hong Kong this week upheld convictions for retired Cardinal Joseph Zen and four other pro-democracy advocates who operated a legal defense and medical fund that supported people engaged in widespread protests in 2019 and 2020.
In a Sept. 3 decision, the judges dismissed the appeals filed by Cardinal Zen, Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, Hui Po-keung, Cyd Ho Sau-lan, and Denise Ho Wan-see. They were found guilty of failing to legally register the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund as a “society” under the Societies Ordinance, which carries monetary fines. It’s unclear whether they will face additional charges.
Cardinal Zen and his co-defendants created the fund to support Hong Kong protesters who opposed the 2019 extradition bill, which would have streamlined the process of extraditing people from Hong Kong to mainland China for prosecution. Protesters opposed subjecting people to prosecutions under the Chinese Communist Party.
Lawmakers ultimately withdrew the bill, but more than 10,000 protesters were arrested and nearly 3,000 people faced charges.
Cardinal Zen and the co-defendants argued they did not believe the fund qualified as a
