Hong Kong pro-democracy and gay rights activist Jimmy Sham released after 4 years in prison

HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s prominent pro-democracy and LGBTQ+ activist Jimmy Sham was released from prison Friday after serving more than four years in the city’s biggest national security case under a Beijing-imposed law.

Sham’s activism made headlines during 2019 antigovernment protests, when he was the convener of a now-disbanded pro-democracy group that organized some of the biggest peaceful marches that year, including one that drew an estimated 2 million people.

Sham was among 47 activists arrested in 2021 for their roles in an unofficial primary election. He was sentenced with 44 other activists last year after judges ruled that their plans to effect change through the primary would have undermined the government’s authority and create a constitutional crisis. Only two of the original defendants were acquitted.

Even behind bars, Sham continued to fight for recognition of his same-sex marriage registered overseas at the city’s top court, which later ruled the government should provide a framework for recognizing same-sex partnerships. It was a landmark decision for the city’s LGBTQ+ community.

“I feel happy. No matter whether there’s a change in [my] freedom, I am definitely freer compared to yesterday,” Sham told reporters Friday after he was reunited with his family. “But I also know many people are suffering. This makes me feel I shouldn’t be too happy.”

Asked if police had warned him not to talk to anyone, he said he censored himself on some sensitive questions. Sham also sounded unsure whether he was a free man.

“Maybe tomorrow, you still can see me, I am free. Maybe tomorrow, I will go back to the jail. I don’t know,” he said.

The activist said he has no plans to leave Hong Kong for now. “So what I can do in the future and what I should, and where the red line lies, I still have to figure it out again.”

Sham and three other activists freed on Friday — Kinda Li, Roy Tam and Henry Wong — are the second batch to be reunited with their families, following the release of four pro-democracy former lawmakers last month. The years of separation have pained the activists and their relatives.

The case involved democracy advocates across the spectrum. They include legal scholar Benny Tai, who got a 10-year prison term, and former student leader Joshua Wong, who has to serve four years and eight months.

Critics said the national security law has effectively crushed the city’s pro-democracy movement, but Beijing and Hong Kong governments insist it brought back stability to the city.

Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang said in a press briefing Thursday that those who were jailed for national security offenses and freed from correctional facilities enjoy freedoms, including freedom of expression, like other residents. He said their conviction would not affect a certain aspect of their freedoms.

Leung writes for the Associated Press.