NSL Trial of 47 Democrats: 5 Developments This Week (24 - 28 April 2023)
Week 12: 24- 28 April 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 twelfth week of the trial of the 47 democrats:
Development 1: Andrew Chiu confirms that he does not know when the veto of the Hong Kong Government budget was discussed amongst democrats
Cross-examination of Andrew Chiu continued this week in the trial of 47 democrats. Under questioning Chiu confirmed that he was unaware precisely when plans to veto the Hong Kong Government’s budget was discussed amongst primary participants.
Chiu told the court that he only attended one of the coordination meetings of the Hong Kong Island Agreement regarding the primaries after previously stating to the police he attended two sessions.
Development 2: Andrew Chiu revised his police statement to remove mentions of objections from traditional democrats over vetoing the budget plans
Under cross-examination, Andrew Chiu was asked this week why he changed his police statement to remove the sentence “ that "there are a lot of opposition from traditional democrats, so what needs to be done."
Development 3: Chiu tells the court that candidates did not sign common platform agreement on vetoing the budget plans
Andrew Chiu under cross examination told the court that several of the primary candidates did not sign a document circulated by Benny Tai for a common platform when it came to plans to veto the Government’s budget after the primary elections.
Development 4: Plans to veto the budget were only discussed once at New East Conference
According to notes provided to the court and the testimony of Andrew Chiu, at a meeting of participants to discuss coordination of the primaries, plans to veto the Government’s budget were only mentioned once.
Development 5: Department for Justice publishes consultation on appealing against acquittals in national security cases
The Department for Justice this week published a consultation paper on plans to allow prosecutors to challenge any acquittals of national security cases in the Court of First Instance and the Court of Final Appeal.
Under the National Security Law, prosecutors can currently appeal national security cases in the lower courts in Hong Kong, but no such mechanism exists for higher up courts. The Department for Justice hopes to close this loophole.
Currently no national security defendant has been acquitted.