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Hong Kong 47: sentencing hearing for 45 activists set for November 19

Forty-five opposition activists in landmark national security case to learn fate next month

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The landmark national security trial lasted for 118 days. Photo: Sam Tsang
Forty-five of 47 Hong Kong opposition activists in a landmark national security trial are set to learn their fate next month as the court has tentatively fixed the sentencing hearing for November 19.
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Only two defendants were acquitted in the High Court trial in May, with 14 others convicted of conspiracy to subvert state power under the 2020 Beijing-imposed national security law.

The remaining 31 pleaded guilty before the start of the 118-day trial.

“The court is intended tentatively to fix a sentencing hearing on November 19, 2024,” said a letter sent by the court on Thursday to lawyers involved in the case.

The activists were found guilty for trying to secure a controlling majority in the Legislative Council through the 2020 unofficial primary, in a bid to cast an indiscriminate vote against the government’s budget and force then leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to step down following the social unrest the year before.

Beijing has imposed a three-tier system in classifying offenders found guilty of subversion.

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