HK Court Convicts Cardinal, 90, Over Pro-Democracy Fund

A 90-year-old former bishop and outspoken critic of China’s ruling Communist Party was found guilty Friday on a charge relating to his role in a relief fund for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests in 2019, Kathleen Magramo and Wayne Chang reported for CNN.

Photo Insert: Zen and four others had initially been charged under the controversial Beijing-backed national security law for colluding with foreign forces, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Cardinal Joseph Zen and five others, including the Cantopop singer Denise Ho, contravened the Societies Ordinance by failing to register the now-defunct “612 Humanitarian Relief Fund” that was partly used to pay protesters’ legal and medical fees, the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts ruled.

The case is considered a marker of political freedom in Hong Kong during a crackdown on the pro-democracy movement and comes at a sensitive time for the Vatican, which is preparing to renew a deal with Beijing over the appointment of bishops in China, Delia Gallagher and Nectar Gan also reported for CNN.

Outside the court, Zen told reporters that he hoped people wouldn’t link his conviction to religious freedom.

“I saw many people overseas are concerned about a cardinal being arrested. It is not related to religious freedom. I am part of the fund. (Hong Kong) has not seen damage (to) its religious freedom,” Zen said.

Zen and four other trustees of the fund – singer Ho, barrister Margaret Ng, scholar Hui Po Keung, and politician Cyd Ho – were sentenced to fines of HK$4,000 ($510) each. A sixth defendant, Sze Ching-wee, who was the fund’s secretary, was fined HK$2,500 ($320).

All had initially been charged under the controversial Beijing-backed national security law for colluding with foreign forces, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Those charges were dropped and they instead faced a lesser charge under the Societies Ordinance, a century-old colonial-era law punishable with fines of up to HK$10,000 ($1,274) but not jail time for first-time offenders.

The court heard in September that the legal fund raised the equivalent of $34.4 million through 100,000 deposits.

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