Hong Kong’s 90-year-old Cardinal Zen among five fined over fund for protesters

Cardinal Joseph Zen, 90, one of Asia’s most senior Roman Catholic clerics, was found guilty of failing to register a now-disbanded fund for pro-democracy protesters and fined HK$4,000 ($512) by a Hong Kong court on Friday.

The arrest of Zen and four others by the city’s national security police in May sparked criticism from some Western governments, who saw it as part of a crackdown on dissent under China’s sweeping national security law. Principal Magistrate Ada Yim stated in her decision that the fund “had political objectives and thus was not established solely for charitable purposes.

Four other trustees of the fund were fined the same amount, including barrister Margaret Ng, scholar Hui Po-Keung, politician Cyd Ho, and singer Denise Ho, while its secretary, Sze Ching-wee, was fined less.