Apple Daily owner Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and Hong Kong lawyer Martin Lee Chu-ming have appealed convictions and sentences for their roles organizing a 2019 protest.
Former lawmaker Albert Ho Chun-yan, who like Lee was given a suspended sentence for joining a rally two years ago, has appealed the ruling, too.
They were among 10 leading pro-democracy activists sentenced Friday for staging and participating in illegal antigovernment protests in 2019. Half received jail sentences between eight and 18 months and the remainder were given suspended sentences.
Lai was accused of being involved in an unauthorized assembly that saw roughly 300,000 people gather in Victoria Park before marching without prior police approval along main roads into the city's central business district Aug. 18.
The charges are "politically motivated," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, and the activists were detained simply for "exercising their fundamental freedoms."
Unauthorized assembly carries a maximum five-year jail sentence in Hong Kong, a suitable penalty because even peaceful protests can lead to violence, according to district judge Amanda Woodcock who oversaw the case.
Lai was also found guilty of taking part in a second illegal protest two weeks later, and has been sentenced to 14 months in jail for the two convictions which are now being appealed.
"Fear is the most inexpensive and convenient way of ruling people and controlling people," he told a BBC reporter Wednesday before being detained.
The publisher is also being charged under the China-backed national security law with sedition and treason for alleged communications with foreign governments. Lai has denied this charge.
