Nine prominent democracy leaders went on trial in Hong Kong on Monday for their part in the 2014 Occupy protests, a case that activists argue highlights a widening crackdown on dissent in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
The defendants, who include professors Benny Tai and Chan Kin-man and sitting lawmakers Tanya Chan and Shiu Ka-chun, face a range of charges related to causing and inciting public nuisance, which carry a maximum prison sentence of seven years.
Prof Tai, Prof Chan and Chu Yiu-ming, a baptist minister who is also on trial, popularised the idea of a non-violent occupation of central Hong Kong, which was intended to pressure Beijing to grant fully democratic elections to the city.
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