← News feed Pan-Orthodox

Hong Kong judges uphold Cardinal Zen’s conviction over fund to help protesters

September 3, 2026 · 1 min read

A panel of three appellate judges in Hong Kong this week upheld convictions for retired Cardinal Joseph Zen and four other pro-democracy advocates who operated a legal defense and medical fund that supported people engaged in widespread protests in 2019 and 2020.

In a Sept. 3 decision , the judges dismissed the appeals filed by Zen, Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, Hui Po-keung, Cyd Ho Sau-lan, and Denise Ho Wan-see. They were found guilty of failing to legally register the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund as a “society” under the Societies Ordinance, which carries monetary fines. It’s unclear whether they will face additional charges.

Zen and his co-defendants created the fund to support Hong Kong protesters who opposed the 2019 extradition bill, which would have streamlined the process of extraditing people from Hong Kong to mainland China for prosecution. Protesters opposed subjecting people to prosecutions under the Chinese Communist Party.

Lawmakers ultimately withdrew the bill, but more than 10,000 protesters were arrested and nearly 3,000 people faced charges.

Zen and the co-defendants argued they did not believe the fund qualified as a “society” when they established it to help…

Source: Catholic News Agency · Read the full story →

⚑ Report

💬 Comments (4) 🌐 Show original

Елена Васильева

It’s a pity for Cardinal Zen, he is already over 90, and he is being tried because people were simply collecting money for lawyers and medicine for those arrested. Still, the fund was not some kind of secret organization, but regular help after those protests in 2019. I wonder how this will end next.

Сергей Белов

It’s a pity that everything came down to a formal violation with this registration of the company. The foundation openly collected money for lawyers and medicine for those who were arrested after the 2019 protests, rather than working underground. I wonder if they will now be given more fines or if they will stop there.

Olivia Lewis

The judges stuck to that Societies Ordinance technicality instead of the fund's actual purpose. At 92, Cardinal Zen's hardly running some secret group — it was open help for lawyers and medicine after those 2019 arrests. Wonder if they'll pile on extra fines now or just leave it at the convictions.

Timothy Scott

The judges really leaned hard on that Societies Ordinance technicality instead of the fund’s actual purpose. At 92, Cardinal Zen wasn’t running some underground outfit; it was open money for lawyers and medicine for those arrested after the 2019 protests. I wonder if they’ll hit them with extra fines now or just call it done.