HONG KONG – CHINA Hong Kong, Cardinal Zen’s lawyers argue charges over 612 Fund management should be dropped

The defense affirms that the cardinal and the other administrators of the humanitarian organization had not formed a company. For the prosecution, the Fund was political in nature and needed to be registered. Protestant pastor sentenced to more than a year in prison for “sedition”.

Hong Kong () – The case must be dismissed because the trustees did not have reciprocal rights and obligations and therefore had not incorporated a company. This is the thesis of the defense, as reported today by the Ming Pao, on the resumption of the trial against Card. Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and five well-known figures from the democratic front. The city prosecutor accuses the defendants of not having correctly registered a humanitarian fund of which they were managers.

On May 11, police arrested the cardinal and the other defendants on the most serious charge of “collusion” with foreign forces, a crime covered by the draconian security law that Beijing imposed in the summer of 2020. If that charge does not apply , the accused could only receive a maximum fine of 1,750 dollars.

Along with the city’s 90-year-old bishop emeritus, renowned lawyer Margaret Ng, singer and activist Denise Ho, former city parliamentarian Cyd Ho, academician Hui Po-keung and activist Sze Ching-wee were indicted.

Until it was closed about a year ago, the 612 Fund helped thousands of pro-democracy protesters involved in the 2019 protests. The defendants have pleaded not guilty and their defense attorneys continue to claim that the charity was not required to register under the Ordinance. of Societies. At the hearing on October 26, the prosecution argued instead that the 612 Fund was political in nature and therefore could not benefit from the public record exemption.

Meanwhile, a city court sentenced a Protestant pastor to more than a year in prison. He was charged with sedition on the basis of a colonial law referring to “misdemeanors.” The fault of the rev. Garry Pang Moon-yuen, 59, is having criticized Judge Amy Chan who presided over the trial of Democratic activist Chow Hang-tung -later convicted- on January 4. During the hearing, the religious had rebuked the magistrate saying: “You have lost your conscience.”