Hong Kong court opens trial of 13 people over violent 2019 storming of Assembly

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Hong Kong court opens trial of 13 people over violent 2019 storming of Assembly

A Hong Kong court has opened the trial of 13 people over the storming and Ransacking of the city's legislative assembly in 2019, which was an unprecedented challenge to the government backed by Beijing.

It was the most violent episode of the initial phase of the huge pro-democracy protests that shook Hong Kong that year, with millions marching and staging sit-ins for weeks.

Hundreds of protesters broke into the parliament on the night of July 1, 2019, the 22nd anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from Britain to China, smashing windows and spraying graffiti.

The 13 defendants on Monday were charged with rioting, a charge that can be punished by up to 10 years in jail.

Seven pleaded guilty to the charge when the trial began on Monday in a Hong Kong district court, and the prosecution shelved the additional charges against them.

I have never regretted my fight for freedom, justice and democracy my thoughts will remain free when I am in jail, he said.

The six who did not plead guilty to rioting are facing additional charges of illegal entry to the Legislative Assembly and criminal damage which carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.

The trial will last for a period of 44 days.

More than 10,000 people were arrested on Monday as authorities sought to snuff out the protest movement in Hong Kong, one of the biggest challenges to Hong Kong's Hong Kong-backed government since the handover in 1997.

In 2020, Beijing instituted a national security law on Hong Kong which outlawed most dissent and destroyed the democracy movement.

Almost 1,900 people have been prosecuted on charges related to the protests.