Hong Kong upholds Joseph Zen protest fund convictions

A Hong Kong court upheld the convictions of Cardinal Joseph Zen and other dissidents Thursday over a multimillion-dollar fund that helped people arrested during the 2019 anti-government protests.

Zen, a 94-year-old senior Catholic figure in Asia, was among those convicted of failing to properly register the now-defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund as a society.

A panel of three judges upheld an earlier ruling that the fund constituted a “society”, meaning it required registration or an exemption from registration with authorities.

The judges said the evidence did not show that the registration rules imposed an unacceptably harsh burden on the appellants' freedom of association.

Zen appeared at the hearing with four other appellants, including activist and singer Denise Ho and veteran human rights barrister Margaret Ng.

Ng told reporters outside court that the group planned to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal. She said the definition of “society” was very broad and could affect many people.

During the trial, prosecutors argued that part of the fund, which raised as much as HK$270 million, was used for political activities and non-charity events, including donations to protest groups and overseas activists.

The defence argued that the fund was only a name given to a sum of money and that the defendants did not form a society. It also challenged the law as vague and disproportionate.

The fund helped pay legal and medical costs for people arrested during the 2019 unrest. It disbanded in 2021 after national security police demanded operational details, including information about donors and beneficiaries.