A Hong Kong court has sentenced 69-year-old Kwok Yin-sang to eight months in prison for attempting to cash out an insurance policy belonging to his daughter, US-based activist Anna Kwok, in a ruling that breached national security law. This marks the first conviction of a family member of a wanted activist under such charges.
Hong Kong's West Kowloon Magistrates' Court sentenced 69-year-old Kwok Yin-sang to eight months in prison on February 26 for attempting to handle financial assets of his daughter, Anna Kwok, including cashing out an insurance policy worth more than HK$88,000 (US$11,251) that he had bought for her as a child.
Anna Kwok, 29, is a pro-democracy activist now based in the US and executive director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council. She left Hong Kong in 2020 and is one of 34 activists wanted by national security police, accused of colluding with foreign forces, with a HK$1 million bounty on her head.
Kwok Yin-sang and his son were arrested last year on suspicion of dealing with her assets, but only the father was charged. He pleaded not guilty. The defence argued that he had paid all premiums and viewed the policy as his own asset. Prosecutors countered that Anna automatically became the policyholder upon reaching adulthood. The court found him guilty on February 11, with acting principal magistrate Andy Cheng Lim-chi rejecting claims of 'collective punishment' for a fugitive's relative.
Defence counsel Steven Kwan Man-wai told the court that punishing the father for his daughter's status would amount to 'collective punishment'.
Ahead of sentencing, Anna Kwok told the BBC: 'My father's case really shows how political freedoms is reaching a new low in Hong Kong.' She added that the government was 'committed to repress any sort of freedoms or any sort of campaign Hong Kongers dare to wage'.
Hong Kong police and government responded that they acted 'in accordance with the law', with actions unrelated to political stance. They stated it is their responsibility to pursue suspects endangering national security, even if absconded overseas. Authorities describe the laws, including the homegrown Article 23 expanding on Beijing's national security law, as necessary for stability, while critics view them as tools to quash dissent.
This is the first national security conviction involving a family member of a wanted activist abroad.