1/ HRF has submitted a formal petition to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) in the case of Owen Chow, a peaceful pro-democracy activist and member of the Hong Kong 47 (HK47), who has been sentenced to nearly eight years in prison under Hong Kong’s draconian National Security Law.

2/ Chow’s was arrest for participating in a democratic primary election in 2020, organized by the city’s pro-democracy camp to contest legislative power through peaceful means. For this, he was charged with “conspiracy to commit subversion,” subjected to prolonged pretrial detention, a closed-door trial, and ultimately handed the second-longest sentence among the HK47.

3/ HRF calls on the UN to declare his detention arbitrary and demand his immediate release, and urges the international community to hold the Chinese Communist Party regime accountable for this flagrant abuse of human rights.