香港政治活動人士的顛覆審判開庭

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Subversion trial for Hong Kong political activists opens

KANIS LEUNG

Sun, February 5, 2023 at 10:49 p.m. PST

HONG KONG (AP) — Some of Hong Kong’s best-known pro-democracy activists went on trial Monday in the biggest prosecution yet under a law imposed by China’s ruling Communist Party to crush dissent.

The 18 defendants face up to life in prison if convicted under the national security law critics say is eroding the autonomy promised when Hong Kong returned to China in 1997, and its status as a global business center.

They were among 47 pro-democracy figures who were arrested in 2021 under the legislation that was imposed following protests in 2019. They were charged in connection with an informal 2020 primary election.

The pro-democracy movement has largely dried up after activists were jailed or went into exile. Growing numbers of young professionals have responded to the erosion of Hong Kong’s Western-style civil liberties by leaving for Britain, the United States and other countries. The United States imposed sanctions on officials it said were to blame for the abuses.

The primary in 2020 aimed at picking pro-democracy candidates who could win control of the territory’s Legislative Council. Prosecutors accuse them of trying to paralyze Hong Kong’s government and topple the city’s leader by securing a majority to veto budgets.

"The purpose of the conspiracy is to subvert the state power,” the prosecutor said in his opening statement.

The prosecution involves many of the city’s most prominent activists, including legal scholar Benny Tai, former student leader Joshua Wong and opposition party leaders Wu Chi-wai and Alvin Yeung.

Tai and four others were the election organizers and had indispensable involvement, the prosecutor said.

In previous proceedings, the 18 activists had indicated they intended to plead not guilty. But two of them — former district councilor Ng Kin-wai and businessman Mike Lam — later changed their minds, joining the other 29 activists, including Tai, Wong, Yeung and Wu, who plan to admit the charges.

While most of the 47 activists who were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion have been detained without bail for nearly two years, former lawmakers Raymond Chan and Helena Wong, who appeared in court on Monday, were among the minority who were granted bail based on strict conditions.

Ahead of the opening statements, the pair, alongside 14 other activists, pleaded not guilty in front of the judges, who were approved by the city’s leader to oversee the case. “There is no crime for me to plead guilty," former lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung said. Ng and Lam pleaded guilty.

Those who intend to plead guilty will receive their sentencing after the trial. Some of them, including Joshua Wong and former district councilor Lester Shum, were in the courtroom to observe the trial.

The court also heard that four of the 47 activists would give evidence as prosecution witnesses.

Earlier in the morning, more than 200 people, including relatives and friends of the defendants, lined up outside the court building as local police stepped up security in the area.

Some people at the front of the line, including a group of more than 10 who came at 6 a.m. to secure a seat for the hearing, said they had no clue what the trial was about. That prompted pro-democracy activists among the spectators to question whether they were just trying to occupy the seats so that other members of the public could not get a place to observe the high-profile trial.

Three members of the League of Social Democrats staged a small protest outside the complex, urging the immediate release of all political prisoners.

“Primary election is not crime. This is political repression," Chan Po-ying, one of the members, said.

Police took away her colleague for violating the mask mandate when he took his mask off and tried to speak loudly.

The trial is expected to last 90 days. The case has drawn international scrutiny, with advocacy groups and politicians condemning the charges.

Amnesty International’s deputy regional director Hana Young called on the charges to be dropped, saying the activists were forced to decide whether they should admit liability to “a non-existent crime” for a potential penalty reduction or fight a losing battle.

“With this mass trial, the Hong Kong government is attempting to shut off all meaningful political participation in Hong Kong,” she said.

But she added the authorities would never be able to fully silence dissidents, pointing to the protest outside the court.

The government postponed the legislative election that would have followed the primary, citing public health risks during the coronavirus pandemic. The electoral system was later overhauled to give Beijing more control over who is elected to Hong Kong’s legislature.

The national security law criminalizes secession, subversion, and collusion with foreign forces to intervene in the city’s affairs as well as terrorism. Apart from the activists, pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai is also facing collusion charges under the law.

Translation

香港（美聯社）- 週一，根據中國執政的共產黨為鎮壓異議而實施的一項法律，香港一些最著名的親民主活動人士受審，這是迄今為止最大規模的起訴。

如果根據國家安全法被定罪，這 18 名被告將面臨終身監禁。批評人士稱，這正在侵蝕香港 1997 年回歸中國時承諾的自治權, 及其作為全球商業中心的地位。

他們是根據 2019 年抗議後實施的立法， 在2021 年被捕的 47 名親民主人士之一部份。他們被指控與民間的 2020 年初選有關。

在活動人士入獄或流亡後，親民主運動基本上已經枯竭。 越來越多的年輕專業人士通過前往英國、美國和其他國家來應對香港西方式公民自由受到侵蝕的情況。 美國對其認為應是侵權行為負責的官員實施制裁。

2020 年的初選,旨在挑選能夠贏得香港立法會控制權的擁護民主的候選人。 檢察官指控他們試圖通過獲得多數票, 去否決預算案來癱瘓香港政府並推翻該城市的領導人。

檢察官在開庭陳述中說: “陰謀的目的是顛覆國家政權” 。

這起訴涉及該市許多最著名的活動人士，包括法律學者戴耀廷、前學生領袖黃之鋒以及反對黨領袖胡志偉和楊偉文。

檢察官說，戴和其他四人是選舉組織者，參與不可或缺。

在之前的訴訟中，這 18 名活動人士曾表示他們打算不認罪。 但他們中的兩人 - 前區議員吳建偉和商人林景楠後來改變了主意，加入了其他 29 名活動人士的行列，包括戴、黃、楊和吳，計劃承認指控。

儘管被控串謀顛覆罪的 47 名活動人士中的大多數人已被拘留近兩年，不得保釋，但周一出庭的前立法會議員陳志全和黃碧雲是少數根據嚴格的條件獲准保釋的人。

在公開陳述之前，這這兩人與其他 14 名活動人士在法官面前拒絕認罪，法官已獲該市領導人批准監督此案。 前立法會議員梁國雄說： “我沒有罪可以認” 。吳和林認罪。

那些打算認罪的人將在審判後接受判決。 他們其中的一些人，包括黃之鋒和前區議員岑敖暉，都在旁聽法院審理的進行。

法庭還獲悉，47 名活動人士中有 4 人將作為控方證人作證。

清晨早些時候，包括被告親友在內的 200 多人在法院大樓外排隊，當地警方加強了該地區的安保。

排在隊伍最前面的一些人，包括上午 6 點前來為聽證會爭取席位的 10 多人，表示他們不知道審判的內容。 這促使旁觀者中的親民主活動人士質疑他們是否只是想佔據席位，以便其他公眾無法獲得位置去觀看這高調的審判。

社會民主黨聯盟的三名成員在大樓外舉行了一場小型抗議活動，敦促立即釋放所有政治犯。

其中一名成員陳寶英說: “初選不是犯罪。 這是政治打壓” 。

當她的同事摘下口罩並試圖大聲說話時，警察以違反口罩規定為由帶走了她的同事。

審判預計將持續90天。 此案已引起國際關注，擁護團體和政治家譴責這些指控。

國際特赦組織區域副主任 Hana Young 呼籲撤銷指控，稱這些政治活動人士被迫決定是承認對“不存在的罪行”承擔責任, 以獲得可能的減刑，還或是打一場必敗之仗。

她說: “通過這次大規模審判，香港政府試圖切斷香港所有有意義的政治參與” 。

但她補充說，當局永遠無法完全壓制持不同政見者的聲音，指出法院外的抗議活動。

政府以冠狀病毒大流行期間的公共衛生風險為由，推遲了本應在初選之後舉行的立法選舉。 後來對選舉制度進行了全面改革，讓北京對香港立法會擁有更多控制權, 去控制誰會被選舉成為議員。

國家安全法將分裂國家、顛覆和勾結外國勢力干涉香港事務, 以及恐怖主義定為犯罪。 除了政治活動人士之外，親民主的出版商黎智英也面臨法律上的串通指控。

       So, some of Hong Kong’s best-known pro-democracy activists go on trial in the biggest prosecution yet under a law imposed by China’s ruling Communist Party that aims at suppressing dissidents. Eighteen defendants will face up to life in prison if convicted. I am interested in knowing the outcome of this trial and how the international communities will react.