Rights activist Chow Hang-tung, in a bid to have a judge replaced in her national security trial, has argued that the judge’s involvement in an earlier case could compromise her right to a fair trial.
Chow had earlier applied to have judge Anna Lai removed from the panel of judges presiding over an upcoming trial involving three former members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China – Chow, Albert Ho and Lee Cheuk-yan – who have been charged with inciting subversion of state power under the national security law.
At Monday’s High Court hearing, judge Alex Lee, one of the judges presiding over the national security case, said the court would hand down its verdict over Chow’s application next Friday.
Chow argued that Lai had previously viewed police investigatory materials that were redacted and kept from Chow and her defence team in a case involving the Alliance’s refusal to hand over data to the police.
A barrister, Chow represented herself in court on Monday and said materials seen by Lai included a police investigation report, search warrants, and the application for a court order to have the alliance hand over information to the police.
Lai’s access to those materials in the previous case could result in prejudice against Chow, the rights activist told the court, adding that the investigation materials were irrelevant to the national security case,
Lee replied: “Us judges aren’t friends of the police. We won’t believe everything they say.
For a judge to take into account the investigation materials in their adjudication would affect the “basic notion of fairness” Chow said, adding that it could not be assumed that Lai would not be biased.
Relevance of information
Lee also cited the lower magistrate court’s verdict as stating that only information about the investigation unrelated to the Alliance and the defendants had been redacted. But Chow said she believed, based on context clues, that her name was part of the redacted information.
Lee replied that neither himself, judge Johnny Chan, nor Chow could be sure of what had been redacted. “I suppose we are all unfortunately in such a predicament,” Chow said.
Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions William Tam maintained that Lai would be unbiased and impartial in her adjudication and disregard any information irrelevant to the alliance’s national security case. Only under “rare circumstances” would a judge be removed from the bench on the basis of potential bias, he added.
The three designated national security judges had earlier said the national security trial would not commence this year.
The Alliance for three decades organised annual candlelight vigils to commemorate the victims of the Tiananmen crackdown on June 4, 1989. It is estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, died when the People’s Liberation Army quashed a student-led pro-democracy movement in Beijing.
The vigil in Victoria Park has been banned since Beijing imposed its security law in June 2020. The alliance voted a year later to disband after its former leaders were prosecuted.
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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