612 Protest Fund Convicted, Fined

Denise Ho, Hui Po-keung, Cardinal Zen, Margaret Ng, Cyd Ho

After months of mental anguish and waiting, today the six members of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund were convicted for failing to register the legal defence fund for those involved in the 2019 protests. The five fund trustees were each fined HK$4,000 (US$512). The sixth was fined HK$2,500.

The West Kowloon Court ruled the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund fell within the definition of a society under the Societies Ordinance and the members were required to register the group with police or ask for an exemption within a month of their establishment.

Fund paid for medical and legal bills of protesters

Principal Magistrate Ada Yim Shun-yee ruled the organisation had to register because it was not just a charity.

"The undisputed fact is that the fund was not set up purely for charitable purposes... The 612 Fund clearly came into contact with matters of the public's interest and zealously raised funds from the public to achieve their objectives," she said.

The Principal Magistrate said all six were indispensable members of the fund, with the five trustees being the decision makers, and Sze the coordinator and financial officer.

This judgement will affect other groups if they are in a similar situation to the 612 fund, said Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, a lawyer and one of the defendants. The others are Cardinal Joseph Zen, singer Denise Ho Wan-see, former Lingnan University academic Hui Po-keung, and former pan-democratic lawmaker Cyd Ho Sau-lan. The sixth defendant was Sze Ching-wee, the fund's secretary who was arrested in early November at the airport to leave Hong Kong.

Sze was the fund's secretary and was also fined

The fund was started on June 15, 2019 to help pay for medical and legal fees as well as counselling for protesters. It ceased operations in October 2021.

However this is not the end of the legal woes for the six, as the police from the National Security Department are still investigating the group's alleged collusion with foreign forces.

The police have accused the six of urging foreign organisations to impose sanctions on Hong Kong. No charges have been laid yet, but their travel documents have been confiscated due to a court order.

If the 612 Humanitarian Fund had registered with the police, would the authorities have approved it at the time?