Cardinal Joseph Zen is not giving up on his legal battle, despite having lost an appeal in Hong Kong.
Zen, 94, along with a pop singer, a lawyer, and an LGBT activist, was sentenced to pay 4,000 Hong Kong dollars.
The Court of Appeal has upheld the sentence he received in 2022 for failing to register the 612 Humanitarian Aid Fund as a society.
But what was the 612 Fund, and why did Cardinal Zen end up in court?
The fund was established in June 2019, during the protests against a bill that would have allowed detainees in Hong Kong to be extradited to mainland China.
Its goal was to provide financial and humanitarian aid to protesters who were injured, detained, or threatened. Its services included legal, medical, and psychological assistance, as well as emergency aid.
In the judges’ view, the fund had an organized structure.
GFX
Fund 612 was not merely money held in trust: in the court’s view, it was an association. Registering it did not place an excessive burden on those who managed it.
Hong Kong Court of Appeal
In 2022, Zen was arrested on suspicion of collaborating with foreign forces under the National Security Law.
His defense has now announced that it is appealing to the highest court. Four years after Zen's arrest, the case remains open.
