The court has allocated 14 days to hear the mitigation pleas from 40 prominent Hong Kong democrats involved in the city’s largest national security case. When the submissions begin on July 2, most of the defendants will have already been detained for over three years.
Activist Joshua Wong, journalist-turned-activist Gwyneth Ho, and veteran activist Leung Kwok-hung, who is better known as “Long Hair”, as well as former lawmakers, are among those due in court for mitigation before a panel of three judges arrive at sentencing.
According to the court schedule, the defendants will appear in court in five groups according to the constituencies they represented in an unofficial primary election that took place in the summer of 2020, and around which the case centred.
A total of 47 democrats were arrested and charged under the Beijing-imposed security law with “conspiracy to commit subversion” on February 28, 2021, over their roles in the primary, which aimed to identify candidates who would help the pro-democracy camp win a majority in a legislative election expected later that year.
Over 600,000 voters cast their ballot in the primary election, despite the authorities claiming the exercise may be illegal.
Of those 47 defendants, 31 pleaded guilty while 14 democrats were convicted following trial. Two democrats were cleared from charges but the government has announced it plans to appeal against their acquittal.
The mitigation pleas for the five pre-democracy figures identified by prosecutors as organisers of the primary election will be heard on June 25, the court announced on Tuesday.
Benny Tai, a former law professor who pleaded guilty to the national security charge, is among the five due in court that day, along with former district councillors Andrew Chiu and Ben Chung, and former pro-democracy lawmaker Au Nok-hin – the trio have testified against his co-defendants for the prosecution.
Activist Gordon Ng, who was convicted last Thursday, will also submit his mitigation on June 25.
Five groups for mitigation
From July 2, two days have been reserved for the six democrats who ran in the primary election in the geographic constituency of Hong Kong island to enter their mitigation, including former district councillor Tiffany Yuen and former district councillor Clarisse Yeung.
A group of six defendants who ran in the geographic constituency of East Kowloon, including activist Joshua Wong – one of the best-known faces of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement who started organising protest at the age of 15 and co-founded the defunct pro-democracy party Demosisto – will submit their mitigation over two days from July 5.
Six democrats who ran in the West Kowloon constituency, along with three democrats who ran for functional constituencies, have been allocated three days for their mitigation pleas from July 10.
From July 30, eight defendants who stood in the geographic constituency of West New Territories, will appear in court for three days of mitigation. Among them are former lawmakers Eddie Chu, Andrew Wan and Kwok Ka-ki.
The remaining 11 democrats have four days reserved for their mitigation submissions from August 5. These defendants, including the journalist-turned-activist Gwyneth Ho and veteran democrat Long Hair, ran in the geographic constituency of East New Territories in the primary election.
The 45 democrats who pleaded guilty or were convicted after trial face a maximum penalty of life in prison, while the minimum sentence – under a three-tier system laid out by the security legislation – is “fixed term imprisonment of not more than three years, short-term detention or restriction.”
Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
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