The defendants in the trial of leaders of the Hong Kong Occupy movement want to demonstrate their strength and thus mobilize their supporters. But in their ranks there is frustration, as they themselves admit.
The protagonists of the Hong Kong „Occupy“ movement, who had challenged the Beijing-led leadership of the Special Administrative Region in 2014 with months of demonstrations and sit-ins, demand patience and perseverance from their supporters. The court case now opened against them sees them as politically motivated and further attempts to discourage the democracy movement.
One of the defendants, former law professor Benny Tai (Article 2.vr), told DW: „We may have violated some filing procedures in preparation for the protests, but the charges of disrupting public policy effectively mean that our right This also calls into question the political motivation of the procedure. “ The defendant Chan Kin-man (article image 1st from the left), former sociology lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), also sees the trial as an attempt by the Hong Kong government to dry up the democracy movement there.
„Young generation needs patience“
The prosecution had told him, said Chan the German wave that now against all supporters and volunteers of the democracy movement is being investigated and that these people would have to expect similar charges. „Once the lawsuit against us has got off the ground, it can lead to a serious disruption of Hong Kong’s freedom and rule of law,“ said Chan Kin-man.
However, he believes that the younger generation in Hong Kong will remain loyal to the democracy movement, even though pressure from Beijing is increasingly frustrating these people: „The young people are frustrated because they do not find effective ways to achieve their goals and dreams I think they just have to be patient and I hope they can gather their strength and find more sustainable ways to fight for their goals. “
Many observers and participants see in the trial of Tai and Chan and other defendants a test of Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedom. But they also see their process as something else: „I can show those who supported the movement earlier that there are still people like us who are ready to fight,“ says Benny Tai. „I hope that I can encourage you to keep going, or we may not inspire anyone, but at least we have to show that we still have resilience.“
„We must not let the process get us down“
Tai has a concrete proposal for the remaining democracy activists: they should use the elections in the Special Administrative Region for their goals. While sitting wins for the pro-democracy forces in the Legislative Council and district councils will not change the political system in Hong Kong, it would be more difficult for the Chinese government to interfere in Hong Kong’s affairs.
Chan Kin-man also calls for defensive action by democracy activists to focus on strengthening Hong Kong’s existing freedoms and rights. He sees the process as part of the collective struggle of the pro-democracy community. „As long as we do not let the process slow us down, I believe we will get stronger and the movement will come to life again, and we will stay strong to encourage people to move forward.“
