Key facts
- Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal upheld the convictions of Cardinal Joseph Zen and four others.
- The convictions relate to the failure to properly register a fund established to aid protesters.
- The ruling means Zen and the others will continue to serve their sentences.
- Zen, a prominent critic of Beijing, was sentenced to a suspended jail term in 2022.
Hong Kong's highest court has upheld the convictions of Cardinal Joseph Zen and four other individuals for their involvement in a defunct fund that provided financial aid to anti-government protesters. The group was found guilty of the offense of failing to register the fund, which was established to assist individuals arrested during the 2019 protests.
Cardinal Zen, a retired bishop of Hong Kong and a vocal critic of Beijing's policies, was sentenced to a suspended jail term in 2022. The ruling by the Court of Final Appeal means that Zen and the other defendants will continue to serve their sentences as a result of the upheld convictions.