Hong Kong
Reuters
—
A Hong Kong court on Thursday sentenced the father of a wanted democracy activist to eight months in prison under the city’s national security law for attempting to cancel his insurance policy and withdraw funds.
Kwok In-san, 69, was found guilty on February 11 of “attempting to deal directly or indirectly with funds, other financial assets or economic resources” belonging to a “fugitive” under the city’s own National Security Law (also known as Article 23).
He is the first person in the city to be charged and convicted of this crime. He pleaded not guilty and did not testify at trial. In court Thursday, he appeared calm and waved goodbye before being taken into custody.
His daughter, Anna Kwok, helps lead the Hong Kong Democratic Council, a Washington-based advocacy group, and is one of 34 foreign activists wanted by Hong Kong’s national security police.
She is accused of conspiring with foreign forces, and police have offered a reward of HK$1 million (about $128,000) for her arrest.
Before her father’s sentence was handed down, Anna Kwok told Reuters in Washington that she found it “absolutely despicable” that the Hong Kong government was pursuing her father.
“This is the first case, but it won’t be the last,” she said.
Her father was charged with attempting to withdraw a total of HK$88,609 (approximately $11,342) from an insurance policy she took out when she was two years old.
Judge Andy Chen said Kwok’s case was a serious case under the national security law and had nothing to do with family ties.
“There is no such thing as collective punishment, and it has nothing to do with whether the defendant and the fugitive are family members,” Chen said.
When asked what she wanted to say to her father, Anna Kwok said she wanted to hug him and apologize for putting him in such a difficult situation.
“Asian fathers aren’t really known for showing affection through hugs, and this year I realized that…I’ve never hugged my father in my entire adult life,” she said.
China imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, and Hong Kong’s city council passed a second set of national security laws, Article 23, in 2024 to close what authorities called “loopholes” in the national security system.
