Retired Hong Kong Catholic leader Joseph Zen among 6 fined up to HK$4,000 each over failure to register legal defence fund set up for protesters
- Magistrate rules 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund was set up in swift and systematic manner, with clear political aims and intimate interaction with public
- Ruling could be prelude to more legal troubles for six defendants, as national security police continue probe into their alleged collusion with foreign forces

Retired Catholic leader Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and five other activists in Hong Kong have been fined up to HK$4,000 (US$512) each after being convicted of failing to register a legal defence fund for those involved in the 2019 anti-government protests.
The West Kowloon Court on Friday handed down the sentences in what were the first convictions documented for failing to get an organisation on the books.
The court ruled the now-defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund fell within the definition of a society under the Societies Ordinance and its members were required to register the group with police or ask for an exemption.
It also held that the registration regime did not impose excessive restrictions on the freedom of assembly and association protected by the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.

Zen, 90, was the fund’s trustee alongside singer Denise Ho Wan-see, former Lingnan University academic Hui Po-keung and ex-opposition lawmakers Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee and Cyd Ho Sau-lan. The sixth defendant, Sze Ching-wee, was the fund’s secretary.