Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - Albert Ho, a veteran pro-democracy politician, had been in jail for more than a year on charges related ...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - Albert Ho, a veteran pro-democracy politician, had been in jail for more than a year on charges related to a national security case. On Monday, a Hong Kong court let him out on bail.
Ho, who is 70 years old, was the leader of the city's biggest opposition group, the Democratic Party. He is also an attorney who runs his own law firm.
A lower court magistrate had already said no to bail. The news says that his health is bad and that he has lung cancer.
In his ruling, High Court judge Johnny Chan talked about Ho's health and said that if he did anything to hurt national security, "his bail will be revoked and he won't be able to get any kind of private medical care."
His bail conditions say that he can't talk about things that could hurt national security in public or the media, he can't meet with foreign officials, and he has to give up all of his travel documents.
Under a China-made national security law, Ho and two other people, Lee Cheuk-yan, 65, and Chow Hang-tung, 37, are accused of inciting subversion of state power. This is because they were leaders in a group called the "Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China," which no longer exists.
New information about the case was also given to the court. For example, the prosecution said that one of the Alliance's "operational goals" was to "end one-party dictatorship," or to get rid of the Communist Party of China.
In 1989, Chinese troops killed pro-democracy protesters in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square. This led to the formation of the Alliance.
Every year on the anniversary of the crackdown, it held a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong to remember the people who died.
The former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a plan called "one country, two systems." This plan was meant to keep different freedoms, but pro-democracy politicians and activists say Beijing and the city's government are taking away these freedoms, including with the national security law.
Chinese and Hong Kong officials say that's not true and that foreign interference is putting the stability and prosperity of the financial hub at risk.
