A 90-year-old Catholic cardinal and five other dissidents were convicted in Hong Kong on Friday for failing to register a now-defunct fund set up to help protesters in the 2019 anti-government protests.

Cardinal Joseph Zen — one of Asia's highest highest-ranking Catholics — was a trustee of the fund along with singer Denise Ho, scholar Hui Po Keung, a former pro-democracy lawmakers Margaret Ng and Cyd Ho.

Five of the group were fined HK$4,000 (about €490, $510) for the crime of failing to properly register the fund as a society, while a sixth person got a smaller fine.

According to the court ruling, the entity — called the "612 Humanitarian Relief Fund" — was not registered with authorities under the semi-autonomous region's Companies Ordinance.

The fund helped pay medical and legal bills for arrested protesters during the large-scale anti-government demonstrations that gripped Hong Kong in 2019.

It ceased operations in August 2021.

Magistrate Ada Yim found "the only and irresistible inference" was that the fund was a "local society" and so subject to the rules.

"Considering the social and political events in recent years, if a society has connections with political groups... the society's operations may affect public order, public peace and national security," Yim said on Friday.

Zen was arrested in May for "colluding with foreign forces" under a controversial national security law that Beijing imposed on the region to crack down on dissent and pro-democracy rallies.

The cardinal and fellow activists are yet to face charges under that law, which can carry a sentence of up to life in prison.

Zen's arrest had shocked the city's Catholic community and revived denunciation of the Vatican's warming relations with Beijing.

Outside the court, Zen insisted that he was acting in his role as a humanitarian and not a cardinal. He added that "Hong Kong has not seen any damage to its religious freedom," the AFP news agency reported.

dvv/sms (AFP, AP, EFE)