Hong Kong’s largest national security case was yesterday sent to trial, after lingering 15 months in pretrial procedures during which most of the 47 defendants were denied bail.
Under the National Security Law, which Beijing imposed in 2020 following huge, sometimes violent democracy protests, the pro-democracy figures are charged with “conspiracy to subversion” for organizing an unofficial primary election.
Subversion is one of the four major crimes under the security law and can carry a punishment of up to life in prison.
Photo: AFP
The defendants, aged between 24 and 66, include democratically elected lawmakers and district councilors, as well as unionists, academics and others, whose political stances range from modest reformists to radical localists.
The case was first brought to court in March last year, when most of the 47 were denied bail after a four-day marathon hearing before a judge handpicked by the government to try national security cases.
Most of the pretrial hearings over the past 15 months, though held in an open court, have been subject to reporting restrictions — with the court repeatedly refusing applications from defendants and journalists for them to be lifted.
Family members and legal representatives have told reporters that the opaqueness has made the defendants “frustrated and depleted,” and allowed the prosecution to “move the goalposts.”
After a three-and-half-day hearing that began on Wednesday and Thursday last week and finished yesterday, all but one of the 47 defendants were committed to a senior court by Principal Magistrate Peter Law Tak-chuen (羅德泉), one of the national security judges.
Law on Wednesday last week announced that 17 defendants had been committed for trial. They included veteran activists “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung (梁國雄), barrister Lawrence Lau (劉偉聰) and journalist-turned-activist Gwyneth Ho (何桂藍).
Twenty-nine others — including law professor Benny Tai (戴耀廷), who was also one of the leaders of the “Occupy Central” movement in 2014 — were committed on Monday and yesterday.
Defendants who submit a non-guilty plea are committed for trial, while those who plead guilty are committed for sentencing, according to the Magistrates Ordinance.
The one outstanding defendant is to join the cohort later after further proceedings before the magistrate.
Hong Kong faces scrutiny over whether its legal system can maintain its independence as China cracks down on dissent with the security law.
More than 180 people have been arrested over the past two years since the security law came into force — the bulk of them activists, unionists and journalists — and 115 have been prosecuted.
Three men have been convicted and sentenced to jail for 43 months to nine years. One of them sought to appeal his 69-month sentence yesterday, with the court reserving judgement until early September.
The 47 defendants form the largest group in one single case under the law.
Authorities say the security law has successfully returned stability to the territory, but critics say it has eviscerated civil liberties and the political plurality the territory used to enjoy.
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