World News
Hong Kong court rejects appeal by Cardinal Joseph Zen and four trustees over unregistered protest fund
Convictions and fines against five trustees of the defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund were upheld under the Societies Ordinance.
The short version
- A Hong Kong court dismissed an appeal by 94-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen and four fellow trustees regarding their 2022 convictions.
- The defendants were originally convicted and fined 4,000 Hong Kong dollars each for failing to register a relief fund that supported 2019 protesters.
- The ruling solidifies the first convictions of their kind under the city's Societies Ordinance.
Key facts
- A Hong Kong court dismissed the appeals of Cardinal Joseph Zen, Denise Ho, Hui Po Keung, Margaret Ng, and Cyd Ho, affirming their 2022 convictions under the Societies Ordinance.[ABC News · Associated Press]
- Each of the five trustees was previously fined 4,000 Hong Kong dollars ($512) for failing to register or seek an exemption for the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund within a month of its establishment.[ABC News · Associated Press]
- The defunct fund covered medical and legal costs for individuals arrested during the 2019 anti-government protests until it ended operations in October 2021.[ABC News · Associated Press]
- While the trustees were initially arrested in 2022 on suspicion of foreign collusion under Hong Kong's Beijing-imposed national security law, they were ultimately charged and convicted only under the Societies Ordinance.[ABC News · Associated Press]