Joseph Zen, four others lose 612 fund appeal
SCMP · 1 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal on Thursday dismissed appeals by retired Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and four other activists over their convictions for failing to register the now-defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund. The court upheld a magistrate’s ruling that the fund fell within the definition of a society under the Societies Ordinance and that the registration regime did not place an unacceptably harsh burden on freedom of association.
Key Points
- The five appellants were Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, Denise Ho Wan-see, Hui Po-keung, Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee and Cyd Ho Sau-lan, all trustees or governors of the fund.
- The Court of Appeal said the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund was more than money held on trust because two trust deeds defined members’ mutual rights and obligations.
- After a 2022 trial, the five were each fined HK$4,000, while fund secretary Sze Ching-wee did not appeal his conviction and HK$2,500 fine.
- The Societies Ordinance requires a local organisation to register with the societies officer, the police commissioner, or seek exemption within one month of establishment.
- Prosecutors said the fund received nearly 100,000 donations totalling HK$270 million between June 2019 and October 2021, with some money used to subsidise an anti-government protest organiser.
Why It Matters
The ruling leaves intact the convictions arising from the operation of one of the best-known support funds linked to the 2019 protests, and confirms the courts’ acceptance of the current registration framework under the Societies Ordinance. The case also remains connected to a separate national security investigation, under which no charges have yet been laid but travel documents of those involved have been confiscated.