A Hong Kong court has upheld the convictions of Cardinal Joseph Zen and four other appellants over failing to properly register their now-defunct fund that supported protesters during the 2019 protests and unrest.

Cardinal Joseph Zen (centre) appears at the High Court alongside, from left, scholar Hui Po-keung, barrister Margaret Ng, ex-lawmaker Cyd Ho, and singer-activist Denise Ho, on September 3, 2026. Photo: Hans Tse/HKFP.

The Court of Appeal on Thursday dismissed the bid by Cardinal Zen, barrister Margaret Ng, former lawmaker Cyd Ho, scholar Hui Po-keung, and singer-activist Denise Ho, who were trustees of the since-disbanded 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund.

The five pro-democracy figures were found guilty in November 2022 of not registering their fund as a society under the city’s Societies Ordinance, and were each fined HK$4,000 by the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts.

They launched an appeal against the conviction, arguing that the fund was established as a trust rather than a society. They also argued that the ruling implied nearly all groups holding activities must be registered as societies, infringing upon the freedom of association.

In a judgment handed down on Thursday, three Court of Appeal judges sided with the lower court in finding that the 612 fund was indeed a society, and therefore it had to apply for registration or an exemption under the law.

The Court of Final Appeal. File photo: GovHK.

“We find that the appellants had all along intended to use the Fund as a vehicle to appeal for, collect and apply public donations for the purpose of supporting” the 2019 protests, wrote Chief Judge of the High Court Jeremy Poon. “The Fund is more than ‘a mere sum of moneys held by the appellants on trust.'”

The judges also ruled that the five had conducted and managed the fund’s operations “like a management committee or governing body” under an agreed-upon trust deed.

“In so conducting the affairs of the Fund, they were its office-bearers as a society, quite apart from their role [as] trustees,“ the judgment added.

Final appeal bid planned

Ng, also a former lawmaker, said on Thursday that the five would seek to take their case to the apex Court of Final Appeal, after briefly meeting with lawyers following the judgment.

“This case is not only about the 612 fund – rather, it concerns the Societies Ordinance,” Ng told reporters in Cantonese.

“If whenever a group of people come together to do something it becomes a society that must apply for registration or an exemption with the police, this would have a huge impact on Hong Kong civil society,” she said.

(From left) Cyd Ho, Cardinal Joseph Zen, Margaret Ng, Denise Ho and Hui Po-keung, the former trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, at West Kowloon Law Courts Building on November 25, 2022. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

The Societies Ordinance stipulates that a society must register or apply for an exemption from registration within one month of its establishment. The 612 fund case was the first prosecution of such an offence under the law.

Founded in June 2019, the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund provided financial support to protesters arrested or injured during the anti-extradition bill movement. It announced its dissolution in August 2021.

Protests erupted in June 2019 over a since-axed extradition bill. They escalated into sometimes violent displays of dissent against police behaviour, amid calls for democracy and anger over Beijing’s encroachment. Demonstrators demanded an independent probe into police conduct, amnesty for those arrested and a halt to the characterisation of protests as “riots.” 

Separately, the five were arrested in May 2022 on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces under a Beijing-imposed national security law. No charges have yet been laid following that round of arrests.