Political prisoner trial developments in Hong Kong last week (5 - 9 June and 12 - 16 June)

Trial of the 47 democrats

Week 18 and 19: 5 - 9 June and 12 - 16 June

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 eighteenth and nineteenth weeks of the trial of the 47 democrats: 

Development 1: Prosecution has enough evidence for trial to continue

At the start of June, four defendants (Gordon Ng, Helena Wong, Gwyneth Ho, Lam Cheuk-ting) made a bid against the charge of conspiracy to commit subversion, arguing that prosecutors had failed to provide sufficient evidence against them under the national security law. 

On Friday 9 June, the court ruled that prosecutors had indeed presented enough evidence to build a prima facie case against the 16 defendants, who are among the 47 democrats currently on trial. Out of 16 democrats currently on trial, 13 are set to give evidence in court. The remaining 31 defendants pleaded guilty earlier and are waiting to be sentenced, with the maximum penalty being life imprisonment.

Development 2: Dickson Chau pleads not guilty to violating mask mandate

The pro-democracy activist and the vice-chairperson of pro-democracy group the League of Social Democrats Dickson Chau was accused of violating the Covid mask mandate while rallying outside court in February 2023, at the start of the trial of the 47 democrats. 

On Wednesday, he appeared in court and denied the charge; his case will be heard on 25 September 2023. He has already been fined 5000 HKD for allegedly removing his mask. 

Development 3: Court doubts admissibility of evidence from Gordon Ng

This week, the representatives of activist Gordon Ng are the first of 16 defendants to make his case in the trial of the 47 democrats. His activists provided email threads and audio recordings, which the judges have challenged and asked the legal team to prepare written submissions to justify why these should be admitted as evidence. The reason that the judges cast doubt on the admissibility of the emails was that they needed further proof that Ng matched his online pseudonym. 

Development 4: Former District Council member Tat Cheng testifies

On Thursday, former District Council member Tat Cheng was the first defendant to give evidence personally against the charge of conspiracy to commit subversion. He is the first of the 47 democrats to do so. 

Cheng was a member of the pro-democracy Civic Party between 2012 and 2020. He testified that his co-defendant and Civic Party member Jeremy Tam proposed using a veto against all government bills as a bargaining chip to push for the five demands which stemmed from the 2019 protests. Cheng also gave evidence about the Civic Party’s structure and its decision-making process, adding that the executive committee’s decisions were often overridden.

Other Developments

Development 1: 23-year old charged with sedition 

Yuen Ching-ting, the 23-year old student who was arrested in March after returning to Hong Kong, was indicted on Thursday for publishing "seditious" comments online during her stay as a student in Japan.

She had returned to Hong Kong to renew her Hong Kong identity card. According to the Hong Kong National Security Department, Yuen was arrested for "doing an act or acts with seditious intention." Evidence of this was found in the language that causes "hatred or contempt" or may "excite disaffection" against Beijing and Hong Kong in her social media posts. This includes the phrases "Hong Kong independence," "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" and "downfall to the Communist Party" in both Chinese and English.

Development 2: Civil case ruling by national security judge Wilson Chan questioned again, after plagiarism 

Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal has again questioned a written judgment in a civil case by national security judge Wilson Chan, who has recently received a “serious reprimand” for plagiarising most of his ruling from the plaintiff in a separate case.

The judiciary said that “copying is unfair to both the plaintiff and defendant, and it will also affect public confidence in the Judiciary, and is completely unacceptable.” Nevertheless, Chan is still set to handle the government’s application for an injunction to ban the distribution of pro-democracy protest song Glory to Hong Kong with criminal intent.