The Political Prisoners of Hong Kong
#1 in the Hong Kong Repression Monitor series
The Hong Kong Repression Monitor series provides overviews of indicators of repression in Hong Kong, based on research and data collected from 2019 to the present. For more information, see this introduction, which will also provide a full list of entries in the series as they are published.
This is an update on a report I wrote with Hong Kong Democracy Council in mid-2022 to mark the “grim milestone” of the number of political prisoners reaching 1,000. That report is a copious, detailed source of information. Since then, the number of political prisoners has nearly doubled.
Below you’ll find, first, some basic statistics and information, followed by commentary.
UPDATE: On July 22, 2026, an 18-year-old was convicted of “sedition” for writing messages on the walls of a men’s restroom in July 2025. The messages included "Bomb John Lee to death," "Liberate Hong Kong," "Dead black police," and "Carrie Lam, step down." The young man had plead guilty to three counts of criminal damage (the typical charge in Hong Kong for graffiti) but denied sedition. The national security police had apparently been tipped off on the graffiti and actually staked out the restroom in order to catch the culprit, who wrote on the restroom walls on three occasions. Unlike the vast majority of those charged with sedition, he had been free on bail pending completion of trial. Following his conviction, he was remanded in custody pending sentencing, which is set to take place on August 12, becoming the 1,949th political prisoner in Hong Kong. The number of political prisoners currently in custody stands at anywhere from 281 to 557 (see the post below for an explanation). Now, in all, 55 people have been convicted of sedition; 0 have been acquitted. Including all convictions for “endangering national security” (ie, under the 2020 national security law imposed by the CCP, the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance imposed by the Hong Kong government, and the UK colonial-era sedition law), the number now stands at 147.
UPDATE: Hong Kong’s prison authority, the Correctional Services Department, has given Witness statistics about the number of political prisoners currently behind bars. According to CSD, as of March 1, 2026, there were 292 people imprisoned for offenses related to the "black-clad violence" movement and violations of the National Security Law or the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. Of these, 267 were convicted (ie, serving prison sentences) and 25 were remanded in custody (pending completion of trial or sentencing). Of the 292, 63 were convicted of violating the National Security Law and Article 23, 181 of riots, and the remaining 48 of unlawful assembly, arson, and other offenses. From 2020 to 2024, CSD included an overview of the imprisoned population related to the 2019 mass protests and national security cases in its annual work review, including the number of new prisoners and the total number of prisoners. However, this was not included in its 2025 report. In the absence of official statistics and any independent monitoring mechanism of releases of political prisoners, I have only been able to give a broad estimate (see below) of the number currently behind bars, between 279 and 555 at latest count. CSD’s message to Witness indicates the number is much toward the lower end of that estimate. Because CSD provided no itemized list, I cannot cross-check it against my list. It is possible that some I count as political prisoners are not among those CSD says are imprisoned in relation to 2019 protests or the national security laws, but it’s fairly safe to say that the number currently behind bars is most likely far closer to, say, 300 than to 500.
UPDATE: On June 9, 2026, a 28-year-old woman was convicted of “riot” on August 31, 2019 and remanded in custody pending sentencing on July 15. With that, she becomes Hong Kong’s 1,947th political prisoner since June 9, 2019. Of those, between 279 and 555 are currently behind bars (see below for an explanation of the broad estimate). She was originally acquitted of “riot” in her first trial in 2021, but the Hong Kong government successfully appealed the acquittal, and she was convicted on retrial. Her conviction was based solely on circumstantial evidence: she dressed in black, wore a gas mask, possessed an umbrella and a hiking pole, was present at the scene, and appeared to be attempting to escape when apprehended by police. 661 of Hong Kong’s 1,947 political prisoners were convicted of “riot” in relation to the 2019 protests. In about 85 percent of their cases, their convictions were based solely on circumstantial evidence of the sort introduced in this young woman’s trial. For more, see “The Hong Kong Riot Trials.”
UPDATE: On May 29, 2026, journalist and former head of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, Ronson Chan, lost his appeal of his conviction for “obstructing police” and was immediately taken into custody to begin serving his five-day sentence. With that, he becomes Hong Kong’s 1,946th political prisoner since June 9, 2019. Of those, between 279 and 555 are currently behind bars (see below for an explanation of the broad estimate). Chan was arrested on September 7, 2022 outside a stadium in Mong Kok where villagers were gathering to discuss how to respond to government efforts to clear them off their land for redevelopment. The arrest was the result of a disagreement between Chan and the police. The police demanded to see his ID and he said he was clearly a journalist, wearing identification as the press, and the police were attempting to impeded his right to cover the meeting. He was convicted in September 2023, but appealed his conviction and was released on bail pending verdict. Today the High Court issued its verdict on his appeal. At the time of his arrest, Chan was still head of HKJA, one of the few groups in Hong Kong that has continued to advocate for press freedom in the face of intense repression, and his arrest was widely seen as targeting him in his role as press union leader. This is indeed part of the government’s wider campaign of attacking independent journalism. Since 2020, dozens of journalists have been prosecuted just for doing their jobs, high-profile independent news outlets like Apple Daily and Stand News have been shut down, and several journalists have been given significant prison terms, the best known being Jimmy Lai and other Apple Daily executives and the editors of Stand News. Hong Kong used to have the freest press in Asia, but its current ranking in Reporters Without Borders annual press freedom report is an abysmal 140th.
UPDATE: On May 21, 2026, a 55-year-old man was remanded in custody pending sentencing after he plead guilty at his first court appearance to two counts of “sedition” for writing messages on pieces of paper and throwing them out of the window of his 12th-floor flat. He will be sentenced on June 9. (More on the case can be found in this piece tracking sedition arrests and convictions.) In another case, four young men in their twenties plead guilty on May 18 to “riot” during mass protests in November 2019. Three had already been remanded, but a fourth was taken into custody. The four had originally been arrested in November 2019 but were not prosecuted. Then, in 2024, they were rearrested and charged. One was only 16 years old at the time of the incident, another 18. They will be sentenced on June 8. Now, in all, there have been 1,945 political prisoners since June 9, 2019. Of those, between 278 and 554 are currently behind bars (see below for an explanation of the broad estimate), and of those, 65 are in custody for “national security” crimes.
UPDATE: Three people were charged on May 14, 2026 with “conspiracy to subvert state power” under the 2020 national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the Chinese Communist Party. The three were remanded in custody pending trial, bringing the total number of political prisoners in Hong Kong to 1,943 since June 9, 2019. Of those, between 276 and 552 are currently behind bars (see below for an explanation of the broad estimate). This also increases to 64 the number currently in custody for “national security” crimes. The three people charged today, all in their early twenties, were originally arrested from December 12 to 14, 2025 during a crackdown related to the fake Legislative Council elections and the Wang Fuk Court fire. They were arrested for “illegal drilling” for allegedly conducting “military-style” exercises. “Illegal drilling” is a new crime introduced in the national security legislation imposed by the Hong Kong government in 2024. But none of the ten originally arrested have actually been charged with that crime. Days after the arrests, two people were charged with “conspiracy to subvert state power” and remanded in custody. They were brought to court on May 14, where one was charged with the additional crimes of possession of explosives and possession of radio communications equipment without a license. The next hearing of all five will be on July 8. Virtually nothing is so far known about the actual details of the case.
UPDATE: As of May 12, 2026, there have been 1,940 political prisoners in Hong Kong since June 9, 2019. Of those, there are between 273 and 549 political prisoners currently behind bars. The reason for the broad estimate is that we have no mechanism to monitor the release of political prisoners. 549 political prisoners have yet to complete their sentences in full. But of those, 276 have completed two-thirds of their sentences and thus are eligible for early release for good conduct while in prison. We don’t know how many of those 276 have been granted early release. Of the 273 to 549 political prisoners currently behind bars, 61 are there for “national security” crimes and almost all of the rest are there for protest-related crimes, and of those, almost all for “riot.” Of the 61 currently behind bars for “national security” crimes, 30 were in the HK47 trial (for taking part in the pro-democracy primary election of 2020), nine in the Jimmy Lai trial, 16 are various others, and six are remanded in custody pending completion of their trial (including Chow Hang-tung, Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho).
UPDATE: As of February 24, 2026, there have been 1,934 political prisoners in Hong Kong since June 9, 2019.
UPDATE, end of 2025: I have just completed my annual review of the Hong Kong political prisoners database. This usually involves tying up loose ends and resolving any outstanding issues. Because a couple hundred political prisoners have been released this year and a couple hundred will be released next year as well, I made an effort this year to be especially thorough. In particular, this involved delving into about two dozen unresolved cases, some dating back as far as 2020. Ultimately, I discovered that in thirteen cases, the defendant in question ended up not having served time in prison. This was for a variety of reasons. In some cases, a defendant was convicted and sentenced to time in prison, but immediately appealed, was released on bail pending appeal, and ultimately acquitted. In some cases, the defendant was erroneously reported to have been remanded in custody pending trial, but subsequently was found not to have been, and was eventually acquitted. While the Hong Kong judicial and penal systems are not as opaque as in other authoritarian countries, and while there are a number of small media organizations and civic groups who work ceaselessly to report on trials of political prisoners, there are still a few cases that inevitably fall between the cracks. The discovery of the thirteen defendants who never ultimately spent time in prison reduces the overall political prisoner count—ie, all those who have been imprisoned for political reasons in Hong Kong from June 9, 2019 to the present—to 1,929. Apologies for the previous inaccuracy. I can assure you that after the just-completed thorough review, the new number is as accurate as it can possibly be. For a full end-of-2025 update on political prisoners, see here.
UPDATE: As of September 2, 2025, there have been 1,942 political prisoners in Hong Kong since June 9, 2019. An estimated 732 political prisoners are currently behind bars. All other statistics below are as of January 17, 2025.
UPDATE: As of July 17, 2025, there have been 1,940 political prisoners in Hong Kong since June 9, 2019. An estimated 789 political prisoners are currently behind bars. All other statistics below are as of January 17, 2025.
UPDATE: As of May 2, 2025, there have been 1,928 political prisoners in Hong Kong. All other statistics below are as of January 17, 2025.
UPDATE: As of April 25, 2025, there are an estimated 834 political prisoners currently behind bars. The prison terms of 63 political prisoners have elapsed since January. Over the course of 2025, the prison terms of 162 more political prisoners are set to end, which would leave Hong Kong with 676 political prisoners behind bars by the end of 2025, assuming there isn’t an influx of new arrests and imprisonments.
UPDATE: As of April 8, 2025, there have been 1,928 political prisoners. All other statistics below are as of January 17, 2025.
Political prisoners: 1,917
From June 9, 2019 to January 17, 2025, there have been 1,917 political prisoners in Hong Kong.
Why date from June 9, 2019?
June 9, 2019 was the start of the mass protests that lasted until July 2020. During that time, more than 15 million people demonstrated. On July 9, 1.03 million people marched. In the late evening, there was a confrontation between police and protesters and the first arrests occurred. Since then, there has been an on-going crackdown in Hong Kong. Prior to the protests, there were 26 political prisoners. The number has risen exponentially over the past five and a half years.
What is the definition of “political prisoner”?
In the context of Hong Kong, a political prisoner is anyone remanded, imprisoned, placed in juvenile detention or otherwise incarcerated…
…for speech or action related to their expression of political belief or opinion, including taking part in demonstrations, uttering political slogans, publishing articles and videos, and using social media;
…for being a member of the organized political opposition, including pro-democracy political parties, protest groups and other non-governmental organizations espousing explicitly pro-democracy views
…on explicitly political charges such as those under the “national security law” (secession, subversion, collusion with foreign forces, and terrorism) as well as sedition.1
How many political arrests have there been?
From June 9, 2019 to January 17, 2025, there have been 10,721 political arrests. Most of those—10,202—took place in 2019-2020 and were of protesters. In 2021, there were 293 political arrests; in 2022, 91; in 2023, 104; and in 2024, 31.
About 18 percent of political arrestees—1,917—have eventually been convicted and imprisoned. 222 others were convicted and given non-custodial sentences, including fines, probation, and suspended sentences.
What crimes were the political prisoners convicted of?
Most of the crimes of which political prisoners were convicted are protest-related. 638 have been convicted of “riot;”2 379 of “unlawful assembly;” and 266 of “possession of offensive weapons.” A large number of those convicted of the latter charge were found to have possessed laser pointers. Other offenses of which large numbers of protesters were convicted include “possession of item(s) with intent to damage or destroy property” (139); “assaulting police” (127); “criminal damage” (81); “resisting arrest” (55); “possession of items fit for unlawful purpose” (46); “arson” (41); and “obstructing police” (39).
A total of 119 political prisoners have been convicted of national security and/or sedition crimes: 78 of crimes under the so-called “national security law” imposed in 2020 and 41 of sedition, which is a UK-colonial-era crime never before employed in post-handover Hong Kong until 2020. Of the 78 convicted of NSL crimes, 45 were convicted of “conspiracy to subvert state power,” 11 of “conspiracy to incite subversion,” 6 of “conspiracy to collude with foreign powers,” 5 of “failure to provide information to police upon demand,” 3 of “inciting secession,” 2 of “collusion with foreign forces,” 2 of “conspiracy to commit terrorism,” and 1 each of “conspiracy to incite secession,” “inciting subversion,” “secession,” and “terrorism.” (The conviction for “terrorism” involved a man who protested on July 1, 2020 against the imposition of the NSL on its first day. He crashed on his motorcycle into a group of police officers while he was flying a “Liberate Hong Kong” flag. In a previous era, he might have been charged with “dangerous driving.” He was sentenced to nine years in prison.)
In all, political prisoners have been convicted of 127 different offenses. Along the way, new offenses have been enacted, including not only the best-known, those in the national security law of 2020 imposed by the CCP and the “homegrown” national security law of 2024, but also “insulting the national anthem” and “inciting people to not vote, cast a blank vote or invalidate their ballot” (even though not voting, casting a blank vote and invalidating one’s ballot are not illegal). People have been convicted for a variety of acts which previous to 2019 would never have been construed as illegal, such as publishing allegorical children’s books, wearing t-shirts with political slogans, participating in an election primary, planning a one-man protest, running an independent news outlet, and so on.
All but two of the 127 prosecuted on NSL and/or sedition charges have been convicted. The conviction rate in other political trials is between 80 and 90 percent.
What is the length of sentences political prisoners receive?
In all, 1,536 political prisoners have been sentenced to a total of 4,276 years, 9 months, 1 week and 3 days in prison. That makes for an average of 2.8 years in prison.
In addition, 271 political prisoners have been sentenced to one of three kinds of juvenile detention (rehabilitation centre, detention centre and training centre). These sentences have no fixed term but are capped at a maximum limit of as little as six months and as much as three years.
The 110 political prisoners neither sentenced to prison nor juvenile detention have either been convicted and remanded but not yet sentenced or have been remanded pending completion of trial.
Those convicted of “riot” have been sentenced to an average of three years and nine months in prison.
Those convicted of “national security” crimes have been sentenced to an average of four years and ten months in prison.
Those convicted of “sedition” have been sentenced to an average of 11 months in prison. (The 2024 “homegrown” national security law increased the maximum penalty for sedition from 2 years to 7 and in some cases 10 years. It remains to be seen whether that will result in heavier sentences.)
At what rate has the number of political prisoners increased?
At the end of 2021, there were 906 political prisoners.
At the end of 2022, there were 1,282.
At the end of 2023, there were 1,765.
At the end of 2024, there were 1,917.
There were 376 new political prisoners in 2022; 483 in 2023; and 152 in 2024.
How many are currently in custody?
887 political prisoners are estimated to currently be in custody.
The key word there is “estimated.” Because no one is systematically monitoring the release of political prisoners, the only way of estimating how many are currently behind bars is the following: we presume that once their prison term is completed, they have been released. But many prisoners receive a one-third sentence reduction due to good conduct in prison. So the estimated number of political prisoners currently behind bars is likely higher than the actual number.
In the last three months of 2024, 81 prison terms ended. 210 prison terms are set to end in 2025. That means there are lots of political prisoners who are being released in this period. Many of those set for release were convicted of riot and sentenced to 3-to-4 years in prison in 2021 and 2022.
The number of political prisoners behind bars will probably continue to decrease because there are only a handful of political trials that have not yet finished where the defendant is on bail pending completion. Most currently on trial, such as Jimmy Lai and Chow Hang-tung, have been in prison a long time already. There are also few new political arrests happening to replenish the prisons.
Commentary
The imprisonment of political opponents is one of the regime’s primary tools of repression and is closely related to the many other forms of repression. For those reasons, I’ve chosen political prisoners as the topic of the first installment in the Hong Kong Repression Monitor series.
The Hong Kong government, at the behest of the Chinese Communist Party, has employed the law and judiciary to criminalize political opposition. This has resulted in a severe deterioration of rule of law and judicial independence.
The reality of mass political imprisonment is intertwined with the gross violation of basic human rights; in particular, freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of assembly and political participation. Indeed, virtually all of those in prison have been persecuted for exercising one or more of those rights: They participated in protests, they led civil society organizations, they led independent media outlets, they led political parties, they ran as candidates in elections, they expressed their views online and in books. The imperatives of the regime’s crackdown are basically these: no protest, no independent civil society organizations that are oppositional in nature, no speech that is critical of the government (ie, “inciting hatred”—the definition of sedition under Hong Kong law), and no political opposition allowed in elected bodies or any other official positions.
The crackdown has been especially ruthless in the years immediate subsequent to the 2019-2020 protests because the regime is “teaching” people the new rules of Hong Kong’s new authoritarian reality. It’s the classic CCP-style “kill the chicken to scare the monkeys” (殺雞儆猴). This has presented Hong Kongers with a stark choice: either remain in HK and stay silent, or speak out and to prison, or emigrate.
On one level, and on its own terms, the intense and pervasive crackdown can be said to have succeeded. There are ever fewer political arrests and the number of political trials tapered off greatly by the end of 2024. That’s because they’ve arrested pretty much everyone there is to arrest, and those who remain in HK have learned their lesson. The public environment has been entirely scrubbed of “subversive” expression; Hong Kongers live in internal exile. (Just to take the most immediate example: if I were in Hong Kong, the contents of this post and my Substack blog in general would render me liable to arrest.)
But in another sense, mass political imprisonment has had a fortifying effect on the majority who want a free and democratic society, binding us together and reinforcing our identity as Hong Kongers, with values almost diametrically opposed to those of the regime. While the many numbers in this post may seem far too abstract, and I use them primarily to illustrate the magnitude of the phenomenon, for Hong Kongers, the issue of political prisoners is personal: Just about everyone knows someone who’s been targeted for repression. They are our friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, community. Hong Kong is after all a small society: 7.5 million people in one of the most densely populated places in the world.
My former boss is serving ten years; my former neighbor, four years and eight months. My former Legislative Council representative, who was the first politician to show any genuine interest in the people in my neighborhood, is also serving four years and eight months. The former leaders of the now-defunct organization where I volunteered for years have been detained for more than three years awaiting trial, which is scheduled to start in 2025. I used to have a radio program on a pirate radio station (the government refused to grant it a broadcast license) alongside two others who had programs much more popular than mine: both of them are now serving long prison sentences, one of four years and five months, the other of four years and three months.
1,917 political prisoners may sound like a lot, and it is, especially for a place with an overall population of about 7.5 million. Hong Kong has just about the highest proportion of political prisoners in the world relative to the size of its population. When I first wrote the political prisoners report in 2022, Hong Kong had the most rapidly increasing population of political prisoners in the world alongside Burma and Belarus. Indeed, that comparison to long-standing authoritarian polities brings into stark relief just how outrageous it is for a society that used to be fairly liberal (albeit undemocratic) to have plummeted to such depths of repression and autocracy.
But seen in another light, 1,917 is a tiny percentage of the people who took part in the protests (estimated to be between two and three million—altogether more than 15 million people took part in over 1,000 protests from June 2019 to July 2020), as well as a tiny percentage of the vast majority of Hong Kongers who are pro-democracy and want to live in a free society and determine their own political destiny. When the regime imprisons those 1,917, it’s tantamount to imprisoning us all. That’s the common sentiment. Each of us feels it could have just as well been us—we protested too, we supported the pro-democracy leaders they’ve thrown in jail and see them as our true representatives—, and that’s why there’s such strong solidarity with those behind bars. Every trial, every imprisonment is an affront to each of us, an affront to justice, an affront to our dream of a free and democratic Hong Kong.
I wake up every morning and wonder how those in prison are doing. Of course, my thoughts drift first to those I know, but I often think of others too, people like Owen Chow. I’ve never met Owen. He was part of the new wave of young activists and politicians that arose at the time of the protests. They represent the bright future Hong Kong could have if it were free to choose its own leaders.
Owen is serving two sentences: a protest sentence and a sentence for being a candidate.
He was convicted of “riot” simply for being present inside the Legislative Council building that protesters broke into on July 1, 2019. For that, he was sentenced to five years, one month and fifteen days in prison.
He was also one of the 47 defendants in the trial of organizers and candidates in the the pro-democracy primary election of 2020. He got seven years and nine months in prison for that.
As it stands, no other pro-democracy leader has been sentenced to more time in prison than he (though it’s highly likely that Jimmy Lai—currently sentenced to 113 months on five different convictions versus Owen’s 134 months on two convictions—will end up sentenced to more once his ongoing trial concludes). Owen is projected to be released from prison in November 2032, later even than Benny Tai, who got the longest sentence—ten years—in the HK47 trial.
On February 27, 2021, Owen was ordered by the police to report for arrest the following day. He and the other HK47 had been originally arrested on January 6, 2021 but were released without charge. This time they were going to be charged and taken into custody. Most people charged with “national security” offenses are remanded in custody pending completion of trial, and up to that point, everyone tried under the national security law had been convicted (since then, two were acquitted in the HK47 trial), so Owen and the others knew when they went to the police station on the 28th, it could very well be the end of their freedom for a very long time. Owen decided to get a tattoo that very night of the Tibetan Buddhist mantra, “Om mani peme hung,” in Tibetan. A Stand News photographer tagged along. (Little did anyone know it at the time, but Stand New itself had only another eleven months to live—it was shut down and its board and editors arrested in December 2021. One of its editors is among the political prisoners still in custody.)
For me, this is one of the iconic images of the era of mass political incarceration in Hong Kong: a young man mentally preparing himself for what looked to be the long years behind bars that lay ahead, seeking to face the prospect with resolve and equanimity.
We will be waiting for him and all of the others to get out.
An upcoming piece will feature Owen’s prison writings.
This definition is taken from the report, “Hong Kong Reaches a Grim Milestone: 1,000 Political Prisoners,” which I wrote and published with Hong Kong Democracy Council in mid-2022. An extended discussion of the concept and definition of “political prisoner” can be found there.
There will be an upcoming Hong Kong Repression Monitor entry specifically dedicated to the riot trials.