47 prominent pro-democracy leaders will be prosecuted in Hong Kong from today. All these leaders are in the biggest prosecution case under the National Security Act and have been at the forefront of raising their voice against the government in the city. The proceedings are expected to last more than four months, and the defendants face up to life in prison if convicted.

Those facing trial represent a cross-section of Hong Kong's opposition – including legal expert Benny Tai, former MPs Claudia Mo, Au Nok-hin and Leung Kwok-hung, and democracy activists Joshua Wong and Lester Shum. Are.

All these leaders have been accused of holding an informal primary election. According to officials, these leaders were trying to topple Hong Kong's government, while the defendants say they are being prosecuted for practicing ordinary opposition politics.

His stated objective was to gain a majority in the city's partially elected legislature, which would allow him to veto the budget and potentially force the resignation of Hong Kong's leader. China collectively charged 47 people under the national security law it imposed in 2020, following massive and often violent pro-democracy protests.

China says the law was needed to stop the unrest, but critics say the crackdown on the opposition has eroded the city's autonomy and political freedoms. Opposition leaders said that China is trying to suppress our voice.

Dennis Kwok, a former opposition lawmaker who now lives in the United States, described the trial as "a complete farce". Kwok told AFP news agency that subversion is a crime that requires someone who threatens to use violence to overturn the regime. But if someone is protesting peacefully and demanding to establish democracy, running a trial against him is a kind of atrocity.