IAPL
Hong Kong’s largest national security trial gets under way on Monday, with 47 pro-democracy activists and politicians standing trial for “conspiring to commit subversion” by organising an unofficial ballot of the public in 2020, days after a sweeping new security law had been imposed.
Sixteen people are expected to plead not guilty, although that number could change by Monday as defendants weigh their options in relation to the potential sentences they might receive.
Those charged include prominent activists “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung and Gordon Ng Ching-hang, who faces potential life imprisonment as one of five people accused of being a “major organiser” of a poll conceived as a way for the democratic camp to choose their strongest candidates for a Legislative Council election that was later postponed.
Defendants who plead guilty will be sentenced after the trial has concluded and include internationally-known activists like Joshua Wong, who has already been convicted on other charges, and Claudia Mo, a former journalist turned legislator. Together, the 47 account for much of what remains of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy leadership after mass protests calling for political reform in 2019 came to an inconclusive end with the arrival of COVID-19, and the national security law pushed many into exile.
Unofficially on trial is the future of Hong Kong’s democracy movement, said Eric Lai, a non-resident fellow at Georgetown Center for Asian Law, as “pro-democracy activities and participating in the legislature” could be seen as threats to national security in the future.
“The majority of public opinion in the city, the pro-democracy camp, has received more than 50 percent of the vote in the previous decade’s elections and now the government chose to arrest and criminalise all the major leaders in Hong Kong,” Lai told Al Jazeera.
Hong Kong's largest prosecution under national security law will be tried on Monday.https://t.co/6c1M9MCn8q
— The 29 Principles (@the29principles) February 4, 2023
“In a way, it’s a trial for these leaders but also for their supports.”
Under the security law, which took effect on June 30, 2020, the defendants face up to three years in prison for conspiracy to commit subversive activities, between three and 10 years imprisonment for “active participation” in the conspiracy, and between 10 years and life imprisonment if they are deemed “principal offenders”.
The latter charge applies only to Ng and four other defendants: former university professor Benny Tai, former legislator Au Nok-hin, and former district councillors Andrew Hiu Ka-yin and Chung Kam-lun.
Tai and Au face some of the most serious charges, according to court documents, for their “clear attempt to subvert the State power, paralyse the operation of the [Hong Kong] Government”, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors also allege the defendants hoped a crackdown on their activities would garner international support and lead to the imposition of sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese officials.
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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/3/democracy-on-trial-as-hong-kong-47-prepare-to-face-court
