Cindy Mo, a former Civic Party legislator who ran in the 2020 Hong Kong Democratic Party primary, was released on April 29 after serving 50 months in prison for the "47 Persons Case." She shared her thoughts on life in prison on Friday (May 2) on her Facebook page, sharing a recent photo of herself since her release, and expressing her thoughts with the other defendants still imprisoned in the same case.
Mao Mengjing, writing in English, described prison life as surreal, reminiscent of a Kafkaesque absurdity. She added that she had not suffered the traumas of loneliness and boredom that come with imprisonment, thanks to the social arrangements. She revealed that while incarcerated, she had read over 300 novels and other books and had also rediscovered her French. She expressed gratitude for the attention and concern expressed by all, specifically thanking Cardinal Joseph Zen, Reporters Without Borders, and the now-defunct charity, Hong Le Hui.
Mao Mengjing shared a photo on her Facebook feed, taken a few hours after her release from prison. A pendant reading "Welcome Home, Mother" hung in the background. In the photo, she's wearing a long-sleeved jacket and a black top. Her complexion is noticeably darker and sallower than before her arrest, and she's significantly thinner, with more gray hair.
Forty-five defendants in the pro-democracy "47 Case" were found guilty of "conspiracy to subvert state power" and sentenced to prison terms ranging from four to ten years. Mao Mengjing, along with former party members Tam Man-ho and Kwok Ka-ki, and another pro-democracy Legislative Council member, Fan Kwok-wai, completed their sentences on Tuesday (April 29th), becoming the first co-defendants to be released from prison. When the four left different prisons early that morning, unlike other released inmates who were able to be picked up by their families, they were instead escorted home by police personnel and vehicles, preventing the media waiting outside the prisons from conducting interviews.
