Lai Man-ling, Melody Yeung, Sidney Ng, Samuel Chan and Fong Tsz-ho, all founding members of the Speech Therapist Union, were imprisoned for more than a year before their trial.
The group could be released in 31 days, after the deduction of the sentence already served, one of their lawyers said on Saturday.
The five professionals decided to publish three picture books for young readers in order to explain the pro-democracy movement From Hong Kong.
They were published in 2020, a year after the movement’s huge, often violent demonstrations.
one titled “The Defenders of the Sheep Village”, a group of wolves tries to occupy a village of sheep, who defend themselves. In other, the wolves are described as dirty and bring disease to the sheep village.
Case news
On Saturday, in front of Judge Kwok Wai Kin, who again called these posts a “brainwashing exercise,” three of the five members said they had no regrets.
Arguments
- Melody Yeung, 28, even assured that she still hoped to side with the sheep. “My only regret is not being able to publish more books before I was arrested”stated before the Court.
- Sidney Ng, 27, claimed through his lawyer that court actions “intimidated civil society and alienated Hongkongers”.
- Prosecutors had argued that the picture books showed a “anti-Chinese sentiment” Y they were intended to “incite readers’ hatred of the authorities in mainland China”.
On Saturday, the judge stated that it had been shown that fear, hatred and dissatisfaction were, through these books, instilled in the minds of children.
“Once (children) have internalized this state of mind, the seeds of instability will be sown,” he insisted.
But the defendants argued that the content told “the story from the perspective of the people” and were meant to help understand systemic injustices in society.
“Instead of being seditious, (the books) tell of brave acts for a just cause,” Ng stressed.
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repercussions
International Amnestywho recently left Hong Kong due to the national security lawdescribed these convictions as “an absurd example of ruthless repression”.
Until recently, this region was a bastion of free expression in China and home to a vibrant and critical publishing industry. However, a extensive political repression in the city in response to mass protests and sometimes violent that took place in 2019.
The main figures of the movement are currently in prison, awaiting trial or on the run abroad.
Dozens of civil society groups, including many trade unions, have disappeared.
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What is speech therapy
Speech therapy is a discipline that investigates and treats human communication disorders derived from voice, language, speech, and hearing problems.
Source: Ambito
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