Amnesty International on Monday protested the Hong Kong Court of Appeal decision to reject the appeals of the group of imprisoned activists known as the Hong Kong 47, calling it a “missed opportunity to start restoring justice.”

The Hong Kong 47 are a group of prominent activists who were arrested during the 2020 pro-democracy protests and collectively charged with “conspiracy to commit subversion.” The charges stem from their roles in an unofficial primary election meant to bolster the position of the pro-democracy camp. Thirty-one of the 47 pleaded guilty, 17 pleaded not guilty, and 2 have been acquitted. The court decision rejected the appeals of 12 who applied, thus upholding their convictions and sentences.

Chan Po-ying, a Hong Kong activist and wife of one of the appellants, maintained their actions were in line with Hong Kong’s Basic Law and constitutional principles. Group members argued that they received an unfair trial and that the initial sentence was too harsh. However, the court disagreed.

Amnesty and similar groups have claimed the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, often referred to as the Article 23 law, has allowed the government to further clamp down on civil liberties and could be used to deny prisoners early release over “national security” concerns. Amnesty spokesperson, Fernando Cheung said:

The court’s dismissal of these appeals underlines the grave state of human rights in Hong Kong and once again demonstrates the politically motivated nature of the Hong Kong 47 case… None of these 12 defendants committed an internationally recognized crime; they have been serving lengthy sentences simply for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and participation in public affairs… By failing to overturn these wrongful convictions and sentences today, the court has missed a critical opportunity to correct this mass injustice.

This comes less than two-weeks since Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in imprisonment on similar charges, signaling a drive to end the fallout from the 2020 upheaval.