Two years ago, activists and politicians were arrested in a dawn raid for organizing an unofficial primary before a legislative election that was postponed.
On Monday, 47 pro-democracy activists and politicians face trial for “conspiring to conduct subversion” by organizing an unofficial public ballot in 2020, days after a new security law was enacted.
Sixteen defendants are likely to plead not guilty, but that number might alter by Monday when they consider their punishments.
“Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung and Gordon Ng Ching-hang, who faces life in jail as one of five people accused of being a “major organiser” of a poll intended to help the democratic party pick their strongest candidates for a Legislative Council election that was postponed, are among those charged.
After the trial, activists like Joshua Wong and Claudia Mo, a former journalist turned legislator, will be sentenced. The 47 make up most of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy leadership after COVID-19 ended large rallies for political reform in 2019 and the national security law sent many into exile.
“Pro-democracy movements and participating in the legislature” could threaten national security, said Georgetown Center for Asian Law non-resident fellow Eric Lai.
“The bulk of public opinion in the city, the pro-democracy camp, has gotten more than 60% of the vote in the previous decade’s elections and now the government opted to arrest and criminalize all the key leaders in Hong Kong,” Lai told Al Jazeera.
“It’s a test for leaders and supporters.”
The security law, which took effect on June 30, 2020, penalizes conspiring to perform subversive acts with up to three years in jail, “active participation” with three to 10 years, and “major offenders” with 10 to life.
Only Ng, former university professor Benny Tai, former legislator Au Nok-hin, and former district councillors Andrew Hiu Ka-yin and Chung Kam-lun face the latter accusation.
Prosecutors charged Tai and Au with “obvious attempt to subvert the State power, paralyse the operation of the [Hong Kong] Government” in court documents. The defendants allegedly believed a crackdown would generate worldwide sympathy and lead to sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese officials, according to prosecutors.
Media ban
The July 2020 voting was an unofficial “primary” for pro-democracy candidates in the September 2020 Legislative Council election.
Candidates wanted to win for democracy and use the electoral majority to reshape Hong Kong.
The platform called for the resignation of then-Chief Executive Carrie Lam, an independent inquiry into police violence during the 2014 and 2019 demonstrations, and political reform to introduce universal suffrage to the territory.
Hong Kong’s leader is selected by Beijing, and only a part of its legislative seats are elected by popular vote.
The July 2020 election gathered nearly 600,000 voters, many of whom stood in line for hours, but the administration delayed the parliamentary election for a year due to COVID-19, nullifying the results.
As Hong Kong locked down after the poll, police raided the 47 defendants and six others in a dawn roundup usually reserved for organized crime gangs.
Only 13 of the 47 received bail after their January 2021 arrest. Detained activists were unable to see their relatives or lawyers or receive mail for months due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Some defendants have been unable to read Statements of Facts describing their charges, forcing their lawyers to go blindly through the court system. The case was media-banned until August 2018.
Chinese Human Rights Defenders researcher and advocacy coordinator William Nee calls the trial a “pre-emptive assault” on a generation of democracy activists and former legislators aged 24 to 66.
International law makes the charges ludicrous. Run for office. They can vote their way after election. “Clearly, Beijing is saying the mere idea you could desire to run and cast votes that go against our wishes is a scheme to commit subversion is clearly against international norms and standards,” Nee added.
“That’s what’s so egregious about this situation. It violates Hong Kong democracy.”
Unpredictable
In Hong Kong’s common law system, admitting guilty on the first day of trial can reduce a criminal defendant’s sentence by 25%, although national security proceedings are exempt. This trial will be heard by three judges chosen by the city’s mayor, not a jury.
Human Rights Watch senior China researcher Maya Wang calls the national security system a “Frankenstein” parallel system cut within Hong Kong’s once-respected judicial system.
Trial duration is 90 days. The accused may obtain “time served” for their pre-trial confinement, but most face a minimum three-year term.
“Everything will be uncertain as we go. Wang told Al Jazeera that Beijing is employing sophisticated legalese to undermine Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.
Hong Kongers are cognitively dissonant seeing them on trial and incarcerated. It depicts repression.”
