HONG KONG — Activist Chan Po-ying is only allowed 15-minute daily visits to see her husband, Leung Kwok-hung, separated by a plexiglass barrier in a highly guarded Hong Kong prison.
Leung, 68, is one of 47 activists prosecuted in the largest national security law case to date in the former British colony. Most of them have been separated from their loved ones for years, not knowing when they might be reunited. On Thursday, 16 activists who have pleaded not guilty, including Leung, will begin hearing their verdict.
The government had warned there could be legal consequences, but Chan did not stop former pro-democracy lawmaker Leung from participating in an unofficial 2020 primary election that would lead to his prosecution under a national security law Beijing imposed on the semi-autonomous city. .
“Maybe we were too naïve,” Chan, 68, said, laughing.
Charged with conspiracy to commit subversion, Leung and other defendants are accused of attempting to paralyze Hong Kong’s government and overthrow the city’s leader by obtaining the legislative majority needed to veto budgets. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Those who pleaded guilty are more likely to receive shorter prison sentences and will be sentenced at a later date.
“I suppose almost none of them can be acquitted,” said Chan, who chairs the League of Social Democrats, one of the city’s few remaining pro-democracy parties. “I’m not optimistic. But I also hope that someone can escape from it.”
Chan was part of a wave of youth activism sweeping Hong Kong when he met Leung in a Marxist group around 1975, when the city was still under British rule.
At first, Chan viewed Leung as a “problematic guy”, insisting on winning every debate. Despite this, they fell in love and their bond transcended mere romance, Chan said; They are “comrades in arms.”
A protest in 2005 solidified their bond. The two were some of the only Hong Kongers to stand firm with overseas protesters, even after police fired tear gas and threatened to arrest them.
“Among those who were with us in our youth, only the two of us stayed in the place,” he said.
Activism in Hong Kong peaked in 2014 with the so-called Umbrella Movement, in which protesters used umbrellas to defend themselves from police pepper spray in a standoff that lasted nearly 80 days. When Beijing did not relent, some young activists began advocating for Hong Kong independence.
The repression was rapid. Several pro-independence activists were prevented from participating in the election, and in 2018, Hong Kong authorities banned a small pro-independence party.
Ventus Lau was among those caught up in the crackdown. He was banned from running in the 2018 elections, even though he renounced his pro-independence stance. But that didn’t stop him from becoming more politically active, helping to organize protests in 2019 in which generations of Hong Kongers demonstrated against a now-withdrawn bill that would have allowed people from the city to be extradited to mainland China.
The largest protest attracted about 2 million people, more than a quarter of the city’s population.
Lau, now 30, is one of the defendants who decided to plead guilty in the subversion case related to the 2020 primaries. Emilia Wong, a 29-year-old feminist influencer and Lau’s long-time girlfriend, supported their activism.
In the years after the Umbrella Movement was put down, Wong remembers feeling hopeful for a more democratic Hong Kong, despite the gloomy atmosphere in the city.
“2019 represented the peak of those hopes,” he said. But the high hopes were short-lived.
As protests subsided due to mass arrests and COVID-19 restrictions, Beijing tightened its control. On June 30, 2020, the sweeping national security law was imposed. Both the Chinese and Hong Kong governments found it necessary to restore stability to the city. Several political groups dissolved on the same day.
Just a week later, a city official warned that the pro-democracy primaries could violate the security law. They held the vote anyway, resulting in an unexpectedly high turnout of 610,000 people.
The poll, organized within the pro-democracy camp, aimed to preselect candidates who would then run in the official elections for the legislature, typically dominated by the pro-Beijing camp. They hoped that, with a legislative majority, the government would listen to their demands.
But things didn’t go as planned.
After the primaries, Beijing said the vote defied the security law that critics say has been widely applied to anything the government claims could threaten stability.
When police officers arrived at Wong’s home in January 2021 to arrest Lau for participating in the election, she recalled, “I felt so absurd that I had to laugh.”
That month, more than 50 former lawmakers and democracy advocates were arrested under the national security law. Authorities accused them of plotting to get enough people in office to indiscriminately veto budgets, paralyze government functions and force the city leader to resign.
Of those arrested, 47 were charged and brought to court for days-long bail hearings, during which time some were hospitalized due to fatigue and others were unable to shower for days. Most of the defendants were denied bail.
After Lau was detained, Wong dedicated his time to arranging the delivery of food and books to him, handling media interviews about the case, arranging visits from his friends, and helping him with his application to restart his university studies while in detention.
Each day left Wong feeling completely exhausted while also dealing with the shock of Lau’s prosecution. One day, upon receiving clothes used by Lau during her detention and that still carried her scent, she burst into tears.
“It was a hard blow for me, specifically for my personal view of Hong Kong,” he said.
Even for veteran activists like Chan, the situation was painful. For her, 2021 was suffocating. After Leung was denied bail, Chan found himself crying for no particular reason during her trips.
Months after the 47 activists were indicted, the arrests of senior management at Apple Daily and Stand News (major media outlets known for their critical reporting on the government) forced them to close. Dozens of civil society groups dissolved. Some of the members of Chan’s League of Social Democrats were also imprisoned.
That year, Chan wondered daily what would happen next. “I felt alone, but I had to handle a lot of things,” she said.
To keep their relationship between visits limited, Lau has been writing Wong a letter every day since 2021, sometimes writing lyrics to canto-pop songs to express her love. In return, Wong dedicated a love song to Lau on the radio for her birthday.
For Wong, staying with Lau is a natural choice. Lau signed an agreement giving him control over her affairs, a document she described as more powerful than a marriage certificate. She said she would do everything she could to support him.
Even behind bars, Wong said, Lau pushes her to become a better person; When she quickened her reading pace, Wong did the same. In turn, Wong offered criticism of Lau’s lyrics. Lau earned a translation degree from her and Wong became a regular at the gym.
“I don’t sit still waiting; I’ve been running all the time, and so has he,” she said.
Chan said life in custody has left Leung visibly thinner and more discouraged. Despite his fiery temper, Leung sometimes avoids arguments during his brief visits.
“He appreciates our 15 minutes together,” Chan said. “But I also feel very upset because this is not his real self.”
In the most optimistic scenario, it could take three to four more years for Leung to be free again, Chan said. Meanwhile, he continues to organize small-scale street demonstrations, despite the threat of the new national security law that critics fear will further restrict civil liberties.
Chan knows their actions might not have a significant impact, but says perseverance in their respective roles is still significant.
“It’s not that nothing has been accomplished,” he said.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
