The defendants have been charged with conspiracy to commit subversion for participating in an unofficial primary election in 2020
Published : 06 Feb 2023, 08:02 AM
SixteenHongKongpro-democracy figures facetrialon Monday, more thantwoyearsaftertheir arrest, in what some observers say is alandmarkcase for the city's judicial independence under anationalsecuritylaw imposed by Beijing.
The defendants are those who pleaded not guilty out of 47 arrested in a dawn raid in January 2021 and charged with conspiracy to commit subversion for participating in an unofficial primary election in 2020.
Thirteen of those arrested were granted bail in 2021, while the other 34 - including 10 who pleaded not guilty - have been in pre-trialcustody onnationalsecuritygrounds.
Western governments have criticised the 2020nationalsecuritylaw as a tool to crush dissent in the former British colony. Chinese andHongKongauthorities say the law, which punishes subversion, collusion with foreign forces and terrorism with up to life in prison, has brought stability to the Asian financial hubafterhuge pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Prosecutors have described the primary election - held to select the strongest candidates to contest an upcoming legislative election - as a "vicious plot" to subvert the government and to wreak "mutual destruction" on the city by taking control of the city's parliament.
The lengthy, high-profile case has drawn internationalcriticism, as government prosecutors repeatedly requested more time to prepare legal documents and gather more evidence.
"Thistrialis not simply atrialagainst the 47 opposition leaders but also atrialfor the population who has been supporting the pro-democracy movement for decades," Eric Lai, a fellow at Georgetown Center for Asian Law in Washington, said.
Thetrialis expected to last 90 days, with three defendants expected to testify against the others, prosecutors say.
Those who have pleaded not guilty include former journalist Gwyneth Ho, activistOwen Chow, former lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung, and labour unionist Winnie Yu.
"The actual people who need to go ontrialare absolutely not us," Chow wrote on his Facebook page in September. "We're not guilty at all."
The 31 who pleaded guilty, including former law professor Benny Tai and activist Joshua Wong, will be sentencedafterthetrial.
Among a number of departures from established common law procedures, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam refused the defendants a jurytrial. The case will be heard by three High Court judges designated under thenationalsecuritylaw: Andrew Chan, Alex Lee and Johnny Chan.
Pretrialproceedings were largely kept out of the public eye until Judge Lee agreed to liftreporting restrictionsin August.