HONG KONG, Feb 23 — A dozen Hong Kong democracy campaigners jailed for subversion had their appeals against their convictions dismissed today.

The former lawmakers, councillors and activists represented the city’s once-vibrant opposition but were handed lengthy prison terms in 2024 for conspiracy to subvert state power, after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the city.

Here are some of the appellants:

Leung Kwok-hung, 69 

The avid Marxist and ex-lawmaker, better known as “Long Hair”, has been in and out of prison for his activism, first against Hong Kong’s former colonial power Britain, and then against China’s increasingly authoritarian rule.

He and his wife, fellow activist Chan Po-ying, co-founded the League of Social Democrats as a more radical wing of the pro-democracy camp, advocating street action.

The group disbanded last year citing “immense political pressure”.

Leung was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison. He has been behind bars since 2021.

Owen Chow, 29 

Chow, a political newcomer who tried to run for the legislature, was jailed for seven years and nine months — the heaviest penalty among the appellants.

Judges said Chow, who studied nursing at university, was a member of the “localist resistance group” that believed in defending Hong Kong’s local identity and autonomy from Chinese encroachment.

He was an initiator of “Inked Without Regret”, a 2020 declaration seen by the court as evidence of the subversive intentions of its signatories.

Gwyneth Ho, 35 

Ho, a former journalist, became a hero to the democracy movement for her hours of live reporting on large, sometimes violent, pro-democracy protests in 2019.

She captured footage of government supporters attacking democracy activists at a train station, broadcasting even as the assailants turned on her.

Judges sentenced her to seven years in prison, saying she held “the most radical political view” of uprooting Hong Kong’s political structure.

Ho criticised the trial as taking place in a “comical”, “1984-esque reality”.

Gordon Ng, 47 

Ng, an Australian citizen, was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison.

He launched a publicity campaign, mostly on social media, to raise the profile of the pro-democracy camp’s informal election, although he did not become a candidate.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in 2024 that Canberra was “gravely concerned” about the jailing of Ng and other Hong Kong activists.

Lam Cheuk-ting, 48 

Lam, a former opposition lawmaker, worked as an investigator in Hong Kong’s anti-corruption watchdog before entering politics.

He and another appellant, Helena Wong, belonged to Hong Kong’s oldest pro-democracy political party — the Democratic Party — which finalised its dissolution in December.

Lam was jailed for six years and nine months. — AFP