Kalvin Ho Kai-ming, Sentenced to 6 Years and 7 Months in the “Hong Kong 47” Case, Spends His 38th Birthday in Prison

(Rights Protection Network Information Center report) On September 19, 2026, this website learned that Kalvin Ho Kai-ming, who was sentenced to 6 years and 7 months in the “Hong Kong 47” case, spent his 38th birthday in prison. Ho Kai-ming and 10 other defendants have applied for leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal, which will hold a hearing on leave on December 10, 2026.

Kalvin Ho Kai-ming: Born on September 18, 1988, English name Kalvin Ho Kai-ming, Christian, formerly a British Hong Kong national, a citizen residing in Tiu Keng Leng, New Territories East, Hong Kong, former Civic Party member, former deputy convener of the Hong Kong Civil Human Rights Front and former vice-chairman of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL), former councillor for the Nam Cheong East constituency of the Sham Shui Po District Council in Hong Kong, pan-democracy figure, political prisoner held in China.

In his early years, after graduating from SKH Lam Kau Mow Secondary School in Hong Kong, he studied at City University of Hong Kong and, after obtaining a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree (with a focus on public policy and politics), went on to study for a master's degree in Christian studies at China Graduate School of Theology;

He joined the Civic Party while still in secondary school and later joined ADPL, thus holding dual membership in the Civic Party and ADPL;

In 2015, he left the Civic Party and instead focused on district-level work for ADPL, mainly participating in services across multiple districts and work addressing various grassroots livelihood issues;

In November 2015, he began actively representing ADPL in the Hong Kong Legislative Council District Council election, and on January 1, 2016, he was successfully elected as a Sham Shui Po District Council member;

During his term, because his work focused on serving residents of Sham Shui Po and addressing social issues including low income, he frequently had to communicate and cooperate with the government, and therefore said that his relationship with the government was good; in December 2016, he was again made ADPL vice-chairman, and by early 2021, he had contributed many livelihood-related activities and measures in the area of district services;

In 2020, he took part in the election for Hong Kong's Kowloon West district council constituency in the pro-democracy primary. Because he hoped to effectively realize his livelihood-oriented ideals and intended to help bring about the “five demands,” he came fourth in the vote and was able to emerge as the pro-democracy camp's candidate for the Legislative Council. He was consequently re-elected as a Sham Shui Po District Council member, serving until July 11, 2021;

On January 6, 2021, he was suddenly arrested by the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force during the pro-democracy camp's primary-election mass arrests. On February 28 of the same year, he and 46 others who had organized or participated in the primary were charged with “conspiracy to subvert state power” under the Hong Kong version of the National Security Law. However, after being held for two weeks, he was temporarily granted bail by the High Court of Hong Kong, and was subsequently forced to resign as ADPL vice-chairman; later, he was remanded in custody again pending trial;

On May 30, 2024, three designated national security law judges of the High Court of Hong Kong found all 47 defendants in the case guilty of “conspiracy to subvert state power”;

On November 19, 2024, the defendants in the “47-person primary election case” were sentenced together at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts. Because he “did not plead guilty” and said that ADPL was a “moderate pro-democracy party,” while ADPL's slogan of “a majority in the Legislative Council and restoring Hong Kong” was something he had come up with, he was ultimately sentenced to 6 years and 7 months in prison (79 months), with his sentence scheduled to end in December 2030; it was learned on December 13, 2024, that he had filed an appeal against the judgment.