Political prisoner trial developments in Hong Kong last week (17-21 and 24-28 July)
Trial of the 47 democrats
Weeks 24 and 25: (17-21 and 24-28 July)
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-fourth and twenty-fifth weeks of the trial of the 47 democrats:
Gwyneth Ho Testifies
Gwyneth Ho, a former journalist at the now-defunct Stand News and one of the candidates in the unofficial primaries, testified at the trial of the 47 democrats.
She appeared in good spirits and answered enthusiastically. She has been charged with “conspiracy to commit subversion” under the National Security Law, to which she has pleaded not guilty and faces up to life in prison.
She stated that it was realistic for the pro-democracy camp to win the Legislative Council elections in 2020, until Beijing intervened with methods outside of the Basic Law. She said that in 2019 and 2020, it was possible for the democrats to secure 35 or more of the 70 seats. In her constituency, New Territories East, Ho received the most votes out of the 12 candidates. She was disqualified from running in the legislative poll by a government returning officer after she was deemed to have failed to meet the requirement of upholding the Basic Law.
Ho added that she did not consider changing from journalism into politics until 2019, because she believed that “when there is still room in the public opinion space, having people who can sort through political arguments is very important.”
On her second day of testimony, Ho stated that she believed in vetoing the budget for many years, since as early as 2011.
On her third day of testimony, Ho added that there was a “change of wind” in the direction of the campaign when the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office and the Hong Kong Liaison Office accused Dennis Kwok, an ex-lawmaker, of abusing his power to interfere with the legislature’s proceedings. Kwok was deputy chairperson of the Legislative Council’s House Committee at the time. Ho said that this incident caused many candidates to change their attitudes, and Kwok was in compliance with all the rules and procedures.
On her fourth day, Ho stated that she held no resentment for the Hong Kong authorities - she has “a lot of discontent but no resentment, because the Hong Kong government is not worth anyone wasting resentment on it…” and added that Hong Kong no longer has rule of law.
She said that she decided to stay in Hong Kong after the National Security Law was passed, and made a risk assessment based on how similar laws were implemented in Mainland China. Ho was also among more than 30 defendants who signed an online declaration titled “Resolute Resistance, Inked Without Regret” which the endorsed five demands advocated by protesters and pledged to pressure the Chief Executive to respond to the five demands. The prosecution argued that this reflected her “unwavering pledge to knowingly achieve the impugned objective regardless of any legal consequences.”
When describing the Chinese government, Ho used the word “totalitarian” which she claimed was objective, not an insult.
By the eighth day of her testimony, Ho said that she had predicted that her public opposition to the national security law would cause her to be disqualified, and criticised the National Security Law in court.
Other Developments
Development 1: More Family Members of Eight Activists Questioned
On 20 July, the Hong Kong national security police took away and questioned family members of trade unionist Christopher Mung Siu-tat and ex-lawmaker Dennis Kwok Wing-hang, and searched their homes.
On 24 July, the Hong Kong national security police also detained the son and daughter of pro-democracy activist Elmer Yuen.
On 11 July, in a similar move, the family members of ex-lawmaker Nathan Law were also taken away and questioned. Hong Kong Watch issued press releases condemning both developments.
Development 2: Man Convicted of Insulting National Anthem
A man has been sentenced to three months in prison after being convicted of insulting the national anthem.
He had replaced the Chinese national anthem, March of the Volunteers, with an instrumental version of Glory to Hong Kong in a video showing Hong Kong fencer Edgar Cheung receiving a gold medal in the Olympics in 2021. The video received 92,115 views by the time the police noticed it and was later made private.
Development 3: Ten Arrested on Anniversary of Yuen Long Attack
On July 21, the fourth anniversary of the Yuen Long attack where over 100 rod-wielding men stormed Yuen Long MTR station leaving 45 people injured, a large number of officers were deployed to carry out stop-and-search actions.
Afterwards, ten people were arrested. They are between the ages of 21 and 65. They were charged with allegedly being involved in disorderly conduct in a public place, allegedly possessing offensive weapons or dangerous drugs, alleged illegal entry, and unpaid metro fines.