First Hong Kong Democrats Jailed in Landmark National Security Trial Released After Four Years in Custody

The first group of individuals jailed in Hong Kong’s landmark national security trial involving 47 pro-democracy activists was released on Tuesday, following more than four years behind bars.Among those freed were former lawmakers Claudia Mo, Kwok Ka-ki, Jeremy Tam, and Gary Fan, who were escorted from three separate prisons across the city at dawn. Security was tight at the locations, with heavy police presence and restricted access to roads leading to the prison facilities.

A Reuters reporter stationed outside Stanley Prison, where Kwok and Tam had been held, was informed by a police officer that the pair had already departed. Vehicles were also seen exiting Shek Pik Prison on Lantau Island and the Lo Wu Correctional Institution near the border with mainland China.Media were kept at a distance from Shek Pik Prison, as police blocked access to two nearby roads, limiting observation to a bridge overlooking the ocean-facing site.



Upon returning home, Gary Fan told journalists, “I will go back home and reunite with family. Thank you HongKongers.”Local media reported that Claudia Mo was calm upon arriving home and needed time to rest, according to her husband, Philip Bowring.

The release follows sweeping crackdowns imposed by China in response to months-long pro-democracy protests that gripped Hong Kong throughout 2019. Under Beijing’s national security law, liberal civil society, political dissent, and independent media have come under increasing pressure.The 47 activists were arrested and charged in early 2021 with conspiracy to commit subversion, a charge carrying potential life imprisonment under the Beijing-imposed legislation.

Following a protracted trial, 45 of the defendants were convicted and handed sentences of up to 10 years. Only two were acquitted.Mo, Kwok, Tam and Fan were all denied bail upon being charged and were held in custody for nearly two years before the trial began in early 2023.

Having pleaded guilty, they each received sentences of four years and two months.All four had political backgrounds in Hong Kong’s now-dismantled pro-democracy movement. Mo, Kwok, and Tam were former Civic Party members.

The party, once a leading opposition force, disbanded in early 2024 amid the intensifying clampdown. Mo had resigned from the party in 2016 and co-founded the localist group HK First with Gary Fan, who belonged to the Neo Democrats.The activists were found guilty of organising an unofficial “primary election” in 2020 to choose candidates for the city’s legislative council.

Prosecutors claimed the plan was a deliberate attempt to paralyse government operations if elected.Western nations, including the United States, condemned the trial as politically motivated and called for the activists’ release.Hong Kong and Beijing, however, defended the proceedings, asserting that the national security law applies equally to all and that the democrats were granted a fair trial.

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