NSL Trial of 47 Democrats: 5 Developments This Week (1 - 5 May 2023)
Week 13: 1 - 5 May 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 thirteenth week of the trial of the 47 democrats:
Development 1: Ex-Sai Kung District Council chief Ben Chung Begins Testimony
This week, Ben Chung, the former District Council chief from Sai Kung, began his testimony. He is the third state witness to testify against his colleagues in this trial. He is also one of the 31 defendants who has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit subversion.
Chung’s testimony began with him taking an oath and then answering questions on his relationships with some of the other defendants, including Benny Tai and Au Nok-hin who have been framed as the “primary movers” of the unofficial elections.
Development 2: Ben Chung Testifies on role of Power for Democracy
In his testimony, Ben Chung elaborated on the role of Power for Democracy, a now-defunct political organisation for which he was the deputy convenor. He said that the group tried to coordinate the pro-democracy camp for the official election that was scheduled for September 2020. This election was postponed for a year due to COVID-19 regulations.
He added that Power for Democracy wanted to “play a role” - echoing what Andrew Chiu, the previous state witness who was the group’s convenor, also testified. However, Chung added that not many people were interested in this plan and that Tai and Au had been discussing different tactics with other candidates.
Development 3: Power for Democracy plans for 2019 election coordination
Ben Chung further added that Power for Democracy had intended to coordinate the pro-democracy camp but in the end Tai led the entire coordination process. There was supposed to be “mobile” coordination but in the end nobody paid attention to it, he stated.
Hence, they organised a meeting in February to reach a consensus on cooperation between the group and Tai.
He added that in May 2020, Au and Tai once again invited Power for Democracy to help and they agreed to host the primary election after May. He did not clarify whether Power for Democracy was formally appointed as the convenor.
Development 4: Power for Democracy met with Benny Tai
Ben Chung added that there was a meeting in February 2020 for him and Chiu to meet Benny Tai. He learned that Tai had already contacted “a certain number of democrats” and some information technology experts to design a mechanism for the primary election.
He also said that Tai wanted to raise funds for the primary election through crowdfunding, which he raised concerns about. Nevertheless, Tai allegedly justified this by saying that it would prevent political novices from thinking that the polls were dominated by major political parties only.
Development 5: US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations passes NSL Resolution
This week, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations passed a resolution condemning Beijing’s destruction of Hong Kong’s democracy and rule of law. It highlighted that the National Security Law is “a vaguely defined criminal statute that includes overly broad charges and extraterritorial reach to punish people for exercising their fundamental rights and freedoms.”
China’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong reacted to this with a statement condemning the resolution and that the Committee “opposed China and stirred up chaos in Hong Kong.”