Retired Cardinal Joseph Zen, 4 others lose appeal over failure to register defence fund

Retired Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and four other activists have lost their appeal against convictions for failing to register their defence fund, the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which supported participants in the 2019 Hong Kong anti-government protests. The Court of Appeal upheld the magistrate's decision that the fund was a society under the Societies Ordinance and its members were required to register it with the police.

The court deemed the registration process constitutional and not a significant burden on freedom of association. Zen, 94, served as the fund's trustee, along with Denise Ho, Hui Po-keung, Margaret Ng, and Cyd Ho. They each received a HK$4,000 fine after being found guilty in a 2022 trial, while Sze Ching-wee, the fund's secretary, did not appeal his conviction and fine.

Police suspect the fund colluded with foreign forces to impose sanctions on Hong Kong, though no charges have been filed yet, and their travel documents have been seized. The Societies Ordinance mandates that local organizations register with the societies officer or seek an exemption within a month of creation. The fund collected nearly 100,000 donations totaling HK$270 million from June 2019 to October 2021, which were used to help anti-government protest organizers, international lobbyists, and foreign groups hostile to Beijing.

The fund's connections to overseas entities were uncovered after police used the national security law to obtain information on donors and recipients. The case has also led to internal investigations by Hong Kong's legal professional bodies regarding alleged misconduct by solicitors and barristers accepting payments from the fund.

The government is considering new regulations for crowdfunding, but pressure groups fear such measures could undermine their ability to operate.