HK pro-democracy advocates accused of subversion, conspiracy

Former lawmakers plotted to use their majority in the legislature as a ‘constitutional weapon,’ prosecution alleges

Hong Kong’s prosecutors accused 47 pro-democracy activists including former lawmakers of subversion by plotting to use their majority in the city’s legislature as a “lethal constitutional weapon” against the government.

The largest trial against the democracy advocates – politicians, activists, campaigners, and community workers – under the national security law started on Feb. 6.

Among the defendants 16 pleaded not guilty to the charge of conspiracy to commit subversion, whereas 31 pleaded guilty, the Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) reported on Feb. 6.

The trial began amid rights activists’ complaints that Hong Kong’s court system has been compromised as the city’s pro-Beijing government handpicks judges and prosecutors who sit on national security cases.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (Special Duties) Anthony Chau in his opening remarks of the trial urged the court to consider the 2019 anti-extradition bill unrest as a relevant context in the case.

“The city saw escalating violence, vandalism, and arson,” Chau said.

“The prosecution will rely on the testimonies of the accomplice witnesses and articles and advertisements or propaganda materials related to the primary election,” he further added.

The prosecution has accused the defendants of having conspired to plan, organize, and participate in seriously interfering in, disrupting, or undermining the performance of duties and functions of the government by unlawful means to subvert the state power.

The accused aimed to use their majority in the legislature to oppose government policy and force the chief executive’s resignation, the prosecution alleged.

Beijing’s hand-picked national security judges Andrew Chan, Johnny Chan, and Alex Lee presided over the hearing.

The offense, if proven, is punishable with a life sentence as per the Beijing-imposed National Security Law enacted in 2020.

Most of the accused have been detained for almost two years awaiting trial. It is estimated that the proceedings will be completed within three months.

According to the prosecution, former University of Hong Kong law professor Benny Tai, 58, initiated the campaign in March 2020 to gain maximum seats in the legislature through an unofficial primary poll.

The prosecution submitted the video footage of Tai’s press conference in which he described winning more than half of the seats in the legislature, as “the expectation of quite a lot of voters.” He also said the majority was a “destructive constitutional weapon.”

“But how to use this constitutional weapon, including our ability to veto the budget… it has to be discussed further,” Tai said at the press conference, reported HKFP.

The unofficial election was held just weeks after the national security law implementation in Hong Kong saw more than 600,000 citizens casting their votes at 251 polling stations.

The accused had also signed an online joint declaration titled “Resolute Resistance, Inked Without Regret,” in which they pledged to enact the plan which included using their power as lawmakers, if elected, to veto the government’s budgets.

The prosecution also pointed out Tai’s article in the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper in March 2020 titled “A LegCo majority is a constitutional weapon of mass destruction.”

Citing the article, Chau stated that Tai believed the legislative majority was in line with “the grand strategy of unwavering resistance against the regime.”

Jimmy Lai, a Catholic media tycoon and the founder of Apple Daily, was accused of colluding with foreign forces under the national security law and producing allegedly seditious publications under the colonial-era sedition law.

He is currently serving a jail term of five years and nine months for fraud over violating the leasing terms of his newspaper’s office complex.

The development of Hong Kong’s complex political scene was the result of constant changes and interference from Beijing in the city-state.

The then-chief executive, Carrie Lam, a Catholic, had invoked emergency powers citing the Covid-19 pandemic and had postponed the March 2020 Legislative Council elections.

In June 2020, following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest, Beijing bypassing the local legislature inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution.

The move criminalized subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces, and terrorist acts, which were broadly defined to include the disruption to transport and other infrastructure thereby giving the police unprecedented sweeping new powers.

This move alarmed the pro-democratic members of the civil society fearing the worst outcome in terms of suppression of dissent in the hitherto free city-state.

Beijing then enacted a major revamp in Hong Kong’s electoral system in May 2021 with the implementation of a screening committee that vetted political candidates for their patriotism to Chinese political ideologies and policies.

Beijing’s repressive policy has cast a lethal blow to the autonomy, basic freedoms and rights people in the former British colony enjoyed under the “one country, two systems” framework.

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