Jimmy Lai among Hong Kong pro-democracy leaders sentenced to prison
16 April 2021
A Hong Kong court sentenced a group of pro-democracy activists to up to 18 months in prison Friday for organizing a massive unauthorized protest in August 2019 that drew an estimated 1.7 million people, AP reports.
Why it matters: Critics say the sentences send the message that even peaceful pro-democracy activism will be severely punished. They mark a continuation of Beijing's overhaul of Hong Kong's political structure, designed to crack down opposition to the Chinese Communist Party.
Context: Pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, the 73-year-old founder of Hong Kong's Apple Daily tabloid and an open critic of the party, was arrested and charged with "colluding with foreign forces" in December 2020 under Hong Kong's new national security law imposed by Beijing earlier that year.
- His arrest drew condemnation from Western governments and international human rights groups.
- Lai and others were found guilty earlier in April of organizing and participating in two protests in 2019 that had been banned by police.
The big picture: Also among those sentenced was Martin Lee, an 82-year-old lawyer often referred to as Hong Kong’s “father of democracy,” who received 11 months in prison, according to the New York Times.
Go deeper: With Hong Kong arrests, China outlaws democracy itself
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.