Political prisoner trial developments in Hong Kong last week (15-18 August)
Trial of the 47 democrats
Week 28: (15-18 August)
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 twenty-eighth week of the trial of the 47 democrats:
Development 1: Cyrus Chan Testifies
This week, Cryus Chan, the assistant and campaign manager for former district councilor Ricky Or, testified. Ricky Or is one of the 16 defendants who has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Chan explained that Or instructed him not to use the popular protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” or to include messages of support for Hong Kong independence after the 2019 district council elections. He also told the court that he, not Or, decided to post an endorsement of the online petition “Resolute Resistance, Inked without Regret,” which stated that the participants in the primaries would use their power as lawmakers to veto the government’s budget. Chan also told the court he was ordered never to use the words “mutual destruction” in Or’s Facebook posts.
When asked why Or had decided to join the primaries, Chan explained that it was a “public opinion poll” for this team, and that Or would decide whether to join the Legislative Council election based on this. However, Chan added that Or would have run in the Legislative Council elections regardless of the primary results.
Development 2: Lee Yue-shun Testifies
Lee Yue-shun, the former district councilor and social worker, also testified this week. He explained that he rejected the proposal to be ranked second in the list. As a member of the now-disbanded Civic Party, he felt that the second candidate in the list would not become a Legislative Council member.
He added that he was advised to use his identity as a social worker and street dancer in his election campaign, because the most important thing is popularity and he was known as a street dancer for more than ten years.
Later on, Lee testified that he was studying in the Department of Social Work of CUHK, and became a social worker in 2019, with aspirations to do social and youth work. He also spoke about attending the Civic Party press conference of March 2020 where there were discussions of vetoing the budget, and that he had mixed feelings about it.
Other Developments
Development 1: Jimmy Lai Trial to be Delayed Again to December
Today, a panel of three High Court judges conducted a pre-trial review of Jimmy Lai’s case and decided to delay it until December 18. The trial was expected to start in December 2022 and had already been delayed until September 2023.
Jimmy Lai, the founder of Apple Daily, faces a very high-profile National Security trial where he has been charged with two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of collusion with foreign forces under the security law, and one offense linked to allegedly seditious publications.
Lai was first arrested in August 2020 and is currently serving time for fraud. Although it has not formally begun, Lai’s National Security trial has already led to the first-ever interpretation of the national security law by China’s legislature last December, and Lai’s team was also ordered to pay for the legal costs related to these interpretations.
Development 2: National Security Police Question Woman Over alleged links to Nathan Law
Today, the Hong Kong National Security Police questioned a woman with reported links to Nathan Law, who is one of the eight activists-in-exile with arrest warrants and bounties.
This follows the detention of the parents of US-based pro-democracy activist Anna Kwok, last week.
Kwok is the executive director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council, a non-profit organisation that supports the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. She is accused by Hong Kong’s national security police of colluding with foreign forces. She is among the 8 activists against whom the Hong Kong national security police issued arrest warrants and bounties of HKD 1 million.
This was the latest escalation in the application of the Hong Kong National Security Law against opposition figures, in particular since the announcement of arrest warrants and bounties against the eight activists in exile.
On 11 July, the family members of ex-lawmaker Nathan Law were also taken away and questioned. On 20 July, in a similar move, police took away questioned family members of trade unionist Christopher Mung Siu-tat and ex-lawmaker Dennis Kwok Wing-hang, and searched their homes. Then on 24 July, police detained the son and daughter of Elmer Yuen.