HONG KONG (AP) — Two Hong Kong democracy activists have pleaded guilty to organizing or participating in an illegal assembly during massive anti-government protests in 2019. The two were among nine prominent activists whose trial began Tuesday. The others include Martin Lee, an 82-year-old veteran of Hong Kong’s democracy movement, and Jimmy Lai, a newspaper publisher who is being held without bail on other charges related to his pro-democracy activities. The two who pleaded guilty were Au Nok-hin and Leung Yiu-chung, both former members of the Hong Kong legislature. The charges are widely seen as a move by China to crack down on dissent in the semi-autonomous territory.
