NSL Trial of 47 Democrats: 5 Developments This Week (27 - 31 March 2023)

Week 8: 27 - 31 March 2023 

The long-anticipated trial of the 47 democrats opened on Monday 6 February 2023. The trial concerns the 47 democrats who organised or participated in “unofficial” primaries in July 2020. As a result of these primaries, 55 people were arrested in January 2021, in the largest crackdown since the National Security Law was passed. 

Of these, 47 have been accused of “conspiracy to commit subversion” and are now facing trial. The majority of defendants have been in detention for 2 years, as only 13 have been granted bail. 31 of the defendants have pleaded guilty. This is one of the most significant trials since the National Security Law (NSL) was passed.

Here are the updates on the eighth week of the trial of the 47 democrats: 

Development 1: Andrew Chiu Testifies 

This week, after Au Nok-hin testified as the first state witness, former district councillor Andrew Chiu started testifying as the second witness on Wednesday.

Andrew Chiu, 37, was the convenor of the defunct political group Power for Democracy. The group allegedly helped coordinate the participating candidates, recruited volunteers, publicised the polls, and other tasks related to the unofficial elections in 2020. Chiu has pleaded guilty to the subversion charge.

Development 2: New accusations against Benny Tai

In Chiu’s testimony, he stated that he met Benny Tai, the former law professor, through work in 2012 and remained in touch with him over the years. Following the umbrella movement in 2014, which ended in police clearance, Tai allegedly became a leader of a group of “more progressive” people and would often bring up “new ideas.” 

In 2020, Chiu stated that Tai intended to “politicise” the work of Hong Kong’s district councils and promote his ideology of maneuvering the constitution to resist the government. 

Tai’s proposal allegedly included intending to make use of government funds provided to support community activities to back the promotion of democratic development, and he proposed a plan to find candidates within the pro-democracy camp to vie for seats in the 18 District Councils, with an aim of seizing majority control of the local bodies, ultimately blocking the budget. 

Development 3: First new ‘co-conspirator’ named

On Monday, the prosecution named Choy Chak-hung, the former chairperson of Kwun Tong District Council, as a new previously unnamed “co-conspirator” in the case of the 47 democrats. This emerged during the prosecution’s re-examination of former lawmaker Au Nok-hin, the first state witness. 

The evidence for this was a WhatsApp group for Power for Democracy, the disbanded group, which was said to have executed the primaries by supporting the coordination of participating candidates, recruiting volunteers and publicising the polls, among other roles. Chiu was convenor of the group. Choy had attended multiple meetings and the prosecution argued that he had knowledge about the alleged conspiracy.

When asked by the judge to confirm that Choy was being named as a “co-conspirator”, the prosecution reassured the judges that the prosecution had argued in the indictment that the alleged conspiracy involved “others” and that this included Choy. 

Development 4: Second new ‘co-conspirator’ named

On Wednesday, the prosecution named Luke Lai King-fai, ex-chief officer of Power for Democracy, as the second new previously unnamed “co-conspirator” in the case of the 47 democrats, even though he has never been arrested or prosecuted. One of the National Security judges said Lai’s name should be included in the indictment. The judge added that it was “undesirable” that the defense did not know whose acts or declarations may be used against their clients and that the evidence should be clearer. 

However, the prosecution replied that had already set out the scope of evidence they wished to submit under the co-conspirator rule in a 25-page document last month, and that the document mentioned Lai’s name.

Development 5: “Thank you, chairman” indicator of irrational discussion

When the judge asked whether the discussion of the district council become irrational, politicised, and not constructive, Chiu confirmed this and explained that the entire parliamentary culture changed, it became very difficult to cooperate, which was also because the number of candidates elected by these amateurs in the district councils was larger than that of traditional democratic parties. 

Chiu pointed out that, in the past, regardless of party affiliation, members or officials of district councils had the practice of "thank you, chairman" after speaking. He stated that some political amateurs or l newly elected local members ignored this. He said that they don't pay attention to some of the traditions of their own system, and that from his perspective, he believed that Benn Tai "injected" this seed 2018, which developed organically. 

Therefore, the court heard that whether a political candidate said  "thank you, chairman" after speaking was an indicator of them having an irrational, politicised, and unconstructive attitude.