LONDON, April 29, 2025 – Today, four of the Hong Kong 45 group of democrats unjustly imprisoned for their participation in an election primary in 2020 were released in Hong Kong.
Kwok Ka-ki, Gary Fan Kwok-wai, Claudia Mo, and Jeremy Tam walked out of prison, having served sentences of four years and two months for conspiracy to commit subversion under the National Security Law (NSL). They are the first of the Hong Kong 45 group of democrats, sentenced in November 2024 under the NSL for their participation in a July 2020 democratic primary election, to be released.
All four are former members of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) who pled guilty to the charges against them:
• Claudia Mo, 68 worked for decades as a journalist in Hong Kong for outlets including Agence-France Presse (AFP), The Standard, TVB, and RTHK TV. A founding member of both the Civic Party and Hong Kong First political parties, she represented the Kowloon West geographical constituency as a LegCo member until November 2020, when she resigned along other democrats to protest against the disqualification of four of her colleagues by the government.
• Kwok Ka-ki, 63, is a former Civic Party member and medical doctor who represented Hong Kong’s Medical and Health Services functional constituency from 2004 to 2008 and the New Territories West constituency from 2012 to 2020.
• Jeremy Tam, 49, another former Civic Party member, represented Kowloon East from 2016 to 2020 and was an outspoken advocate for civil liberties, democratic reforms, and government accountability in Hong Kong.
• Gary Fan Kwok-wai, 58, served as a Sai Kung District Councillor for 21 years, starting in 2000, and as a LegCo member from 2012 to 2016 and from 2018 to 2019. He is a former member of the Democratic Party, which he left in 2010 to found the Neo Democrats political party.
Twelve more of the Hong Kong 45 are set to complete their sentences later this year.
Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation President Mark Clifford said:
“The release of this group of high-profile detainees imprisoned for more than four years under the National Security Law is welcome news. But they should not have spent a single night in jail.
“Authorities incarcerated these peaceful pro-democracy politicians simply for exercising their rights under Hong Kong’s Basic Law.
“Their treatment now will be closely watched by the international community. The authorities must allow Kwok Ka-ki, Gary Fan Kwok-wai, Claudia Mo, and Jeremy Tam to live without interference, monitoring, or special conditions.
“While we welcome their release, any celebrations are muted by the knowledge that hundreds of peaceful political prisoners, including 2025 Nobel Peace Prize nominee Jimmy Lai, and prior Nobel Peace Prize nominees Chow Hang-tung, Gwyneth Ho, Lee Cheuk-yan, and Joshua Wong remain unjustly imprisoned.”
