The criminal trial of Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-Kiun is set to start next week after it failed to begin as scheduled.

Newsroom (22/09/2022 3:55 PM Gaudium Press) — The 90-year-old cardinal was due to appear in court in Hong Kong on Sept. 19, but the hearing did not take place after a judge in the case tested positive for COVID-19.

The hearing was initially rescheduled for Wednesday but will begin on Sept. 26, sources close to the case have revealed.

Why is Cardinal Zen facing trial?

The cardinal is one of the most prominent pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong, a former British colony with a population of 7.5 million people that became a special administrative region of China in 1997.

The Chinese government promised to maintain the city’s existing governmental and economic structures for 50 years after British rule under the “one country, two systems” principle, upholding Hong Kong’s Basic Law, which guaranteed the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents.

In 2019, the Hong Kong government attempted to pass legislation that would have allowed political detainees to be deported to mainland China to face trial. Months of mass demonstrations and protests led to a fierce police crackdown.

Although the extradition bill was withdrawn, Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong in June 2020, curtailing civil liberties.

The Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong was arrested in May in connection with his role as a trustee of the 612 Humanitarian Fund, which provided financial and legal aid to people arrested during the 2019 demonstrations.

Zen was initially held on national security grounds, including alleged collusion with foreign agents. But when the case comes to court, he will only face the charge of failing to register the fund appropriately.

Who is being tried alongside Cardinal Zen?

Other trustees of the now closed 612 Humanitarian Fund are also standing trial. They are the barrister Margaret Ng, the Cantopop star and pro-democracy campaigner Denise Ho, former lawmaker Cyd Ho, cultural studies scholar Hui Po-keung, and activist Sze Ching-wee.

All the defendants pleaded not guilty to the offences in May.

– Raju Hasmukh with files from The Pillar