Advertisement
Hong Kong national security law
Hong KongLaw and Crime

Hong Kong 47: heavy police presence planned as court to rule on 16 opposition figures over subversion charges, plot to topple then chief executive

  • Group is among 47 people prosecuted for what Beijing calls a ‘blatant challenge’ to the law after estimated 610,000 voted in July 2020 to pick candidates for Legco election
  • Mass arrest and prosecution in 2021 triggered backlash from West, with US sanctioning six Beijing and Hong Kong officials

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
A group of 16 opposition politicians and activists are among 47 people prosecuted for what Beijing called a “blatant challenge” to the law following a July 2020 poll. Photo: Sam Tsang
Brian WongandJess Ma

Three Hong Kong judges will announce on Thursday amid a heavy police presence whether 16 opposition politicians and activists have breached the national security law by conspiring to subvert state power through their participation in an unofficial legislative primary election four years ago.

Advertisement
The 16 accused were among 47 people prosecuted for what Beijing called a “blatant challenge” to the law after an estimated 610,000 voters cast their ballot in July 2020 to pick their ideal candidates for the Legislative Council election initially scheduled that year.

A source familiar with the matter told the Post that hundreds of officers, including national security police, would be stationed outside West Kowloon Court. The police tactical unit, traffic police, crime wing officers and public relations officers would also be present alongside the force’s vehicles.

The mass arrest and prosecution in 2021 triggered a backlash from the West, with the United States sanctioning six Beijing and Hong Kong officials over the “appalling crackdown on pro-democracy politicians and activists”.
Prosecutors have described the primary as a plot to turn Legco into a “lethal constitutional weapon” against the government, a term borrowed from an article written by legal scholar Benny Tai Yiu-ting.
Advertisement

Prosecutors consider Tai the primary’s initiator and allege the poll was part of his “grand strategy of rebellion” to achieve Hong Kong’s “mutual destruction”.

They argued the 47 opposition figures had conspired to win control of Legco and paralyse the government by indiscriminately vetoing the fiscal budget.

Advertisement