Hong Kong artist Clarisse Yeung sentenced to prison for political subversion
Clarisse Yeung, a Hong Kong artist and former elected member of the city’s district council, has been sentenced to six years in prison for “subversion” under the country’s national security law.
Yeung was one of 45 prominent pro-democracy activists to be jailed for holding an unofficial primary election in 2020 following a wave of protests. It is the city’s largest-ever national security trial.
The artist gained public attention during pro-democracy protests in 2014 when she was part of a group of volunteers who gathered over a thousand photographs, posters, and art installations for the Umbrella Movement Visual Archive, a collection of visual representations of the protests. In 2016, Yeung beat a pro-Beijing candidate to secure a seat on the district council.
In 2019, there was a wave of pro-democracy protests and record voter turnout after the government proposed a bill that would allow the extradition of prisoners to mainland China. Yeung retained her seat on the district council and the bill was dropped, but in 2020, the government passed a harsh national security law that broadly criminalises “separatism, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference.”
Yeung and 46 other prominent activists were arrested in 2021. Of the 45 activists who have now been convicted under the new law, sentences range from four to 10 years. As reported by ArtNews, Yeung’s sentence was reduced by six months for “her possible mistake as to the lawfulness of the scheme,” as well as for letters that vouched for her contributions to cultural policies and charities.
The most prominent activist to be sentenced in the trial was Benny Tai, a legal scholar who became the face of the Umbrella Movement in 2019. The court deemed him responsible for organising the unofficial election and sentenced him to ten years in prison. Joshua Wong, who rose to prominence during the protests at just 15, was sentenced to four years.
Speaking to Artnet in 2019 in the wake of the election, Yeung credited her creative background with helping to set fire to the movement. “The people I have dealt with, from government officials to well-educated professionals from the community, they tend to obey the structure,” she said, adding “There is a lack of imagination. But coming from a fine art background, I can see things differently.”
The sentencing of the 45 pro-democracy advocates has been met with outrage from Western nations, who have condemned the trial as politically motivated.
