Hong Kong authorities sentence five minors to three years in prison for protesting against Beijing

MADRID, 8 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Five Hong Kong teenagers who were part of a pro-independence group have been sentenced to three years in a correctional facility for participating in protests in favor of the autonomy of the territory against the sovereignty of Beijing, in the first convictions of minors derived from the criticized Law of National Security, imposed by the Chinese government and considered by the opposition as a tool of repression against dissidence.

The five teenagers belonged to a group known as The Return of the Brave and were between 15 and 18 years old when the proceedings began under the orders of Magistrate Kwok Wai Kin.

This Saturday, the judge has ordered that the five convicts spend the next three years in a vocational training center in a penal institution, according to the verdict to which the 'South China Morning Post' has had access.

The group, made up of about twenty young people and describing itself as "the embers of the revolution" was accused of organizing 13 street protest stalls, press conferences, and operating three social media accounts between January and May of last year. with the aim of "overthrowing Beijing and the Hong Kong administration".

Hong Kong police seized various "protest weapons and equipment" during the arrests in a raid on the group's warehouse in Cheung Sha Wan and the respective homes of the accused, including air guns, extendable batons, knives, respirators. , helmets and tactical vests.

The judge has ignored the mitigating age presented by the defense but finally left in the hands of the penitentiary institution the time that the convicts will remain in the correctional facility, as long as it does not exceed the three-year limit set by the magistrate.

Chinese authorities say the controversial Security Law has restored stability to the world financial center after massive anti-government and pro-democracy protests in 2019. However, human rights experts at the United Nations Human Rights Committee They called in July for the law's repeal, on suspicion of repressing fundamental freedoms.