The 16 [practitioners] of the Falun Gong spiritual movement fined by a Hong Kong court last week for obstruction are to appeal against their convictions.

The group had been demonstrating outside the Beijing government offices in Hong Kong against the persecution of Falun Gong [practitioners] on the mainland.

It was the first trial of Falun Gong members in Hong Kong, where the [group] remains legal.

One of those convicted told the BBC the Hong Kong authorities were bowing to pressure from Beijing.

Human rights groups and Hong Kong opposition politicians have expressed concern that the case could indicate an erosion of freedoms guaranteed at the handover of the former British colony to China in 1997.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2202965.stm