Many important pro-democracy people in Hong Kong are close to finding out what will happen to them in the city’s biggest national security case so far. Prosecutors and lawyers have returned to court to make final speeches almost three years after the mass arrests.
47 people were accused of planning to overthrow the government for organizing a non-official election to choose who would run for city lawmaker positions in 2020.
The people being tried, say that the plan was just a normal part of the varied and opposing politics that has always been allowed in Hong Kong. Lawyers say it was a big plan to go against the Hong Kong government in an organized way.
If found guilty, they could be sentenced to life in prison.
The government is taking strong action against the pro-democracy group in Hong Kong. This is the biggest crackdown since Beijing made a law for national security in 2020. This came after big protests against the government in 2019.
Critics are worried about what happened to the “Hong Kong 47” because it shows how the national security law has stopped people from speaking out and being active in politics in the city, even though they used to be allowed to do so in its partial democracy.
Many people are being kept in jail for over two years in a case that is being closely followed. Hong Kong’s court system, which has been important for its success as a financial center, is being watched to see how it will use the national security law while Beijing is gaining more control.
The Hong Kong government keeps saying the national security law is not taking away people’s freedom. Instead, it says the law has stopped the confusion and brought back calmness to the city.
The 47 people on trial include experienced politicians, elected officials, and young protest leaders, as well as teachers, union members, reporters, and healthcare workers. They come from different age groups and political beliefs – from middle-of-the-road democrats to people who support Hong Kong making its own decisions.
Some famous people in Hong Kong include Joshua Wong, 27, who led protests, Benny Tai, 59, who co-founded a movement, and Claudia Mo, 66, who was a journalist and is now a lawmaker.
There were a lot of police outside the courthouse on Wednesday morning. They were walking around and keeping an eye on the area.
One person, Alexandra Wong, was taken away by the police for a search after holding a British flag outside the court.
Also called Grandma Wong, the 67-year-old woman was always present at the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. She went back to the court and showed a sign that said “Free 47, free everyone. ”
47 people who were fighting for democracy were all arrested at the same time in January 2021. They were officially charged two months later. Thirty-one people admitted they did something wrong and said they were guilty. In Hong Kong, this can mean they might get a shorter punishment.
The court in West Kowloon began listening to their case in February of this year. After 116 days of court meetings, the lawyers for 16 people who said they did not do anything wrong are back in court to try one last time to prove their innocence.
People who support someone filled the seats in the courtroom on Wednesday when the hearing started. Some people shouted the names of activists as they were brought into the courtroom. The defendants nodded or waved to show they saw the acknowledgment.
Some people say they didn’t do it. One is Gwyneth Ho, 33, a former journalist who showed a mob attacking pro-democracy protesters in a subway station. The other is Leung Kwok-hung, 67, who is known as “Long Hair” and has been a strong supporter of the pro-democracy movement in the city for many years.
Meanwhile, the lawyers are almost done explaining why they think the activists should be found guilty.
The prosecutors and defense lawyers will take a few days to finish their final speeches. They have submitted over a thousand pages of legal documents to the judges.
The three judges in charge of the case said they will take another three to four months to make a decision during the hearing on Wednesday.
The charges are about a special vote that the opposition groups organized in July 2020 to choose the candidates they liked for the Legislative Council election. This election was supposed to happen later that year.
Political competitions like this happen a lot in democratic countries everywhere. Hong Kong has not been a full democracy, but after Britain gave it back to China in 1997, a small group of people who disagreed with the government was allowed to exist for a while.
The scenery changed after the big and sometimes violent protests for democracy in 2019 and when the opposition won by a lot in local elections at the end of that year.
The pro-democracy group wanted to use the primary election to win enough seats in the legislature to stop government laws from passing.
Officials in Hong Kong accused the primary vote of being a dangerous plan to weaken the government and gain power by winning the majority of seats and using that power to stop new laws from being passed.
Democracy activists in Hong Kong have been in court before. Many people have been tried and sent to jail for their activism. The trial of the “Hong Kong 47” is the biggest case against democracy leaders during Beijing’s rule. It is being closely watched in Hong Kong and around the world.
The trial shows how the legal system in Hong Kong has changed because of the national security law. This law makes it a crime to break away from the government, undermine it, commit acts of terrorism, or work with foreign countries. The maximum punishment for these crimes is life in prison.
In China, the courts are controlled by the ruling Communist Party and almost everyone who goes to trial is found guilty. On the other hand, Hong Kong uses a legal system based on common law, which was not changed when the former British colony was given back to China in 1997.
However, new legal decisions are being made in cases involving national security.
The trial of the “Hong Kong 47” was held without a jury, which goes against the usual way trials are done. This was allowed by a law imposed by Beijing. Three High Court Judges chosen by the city’s leader decide on national security cases. No trials with a jury have been held for cases about keeping the country safe in the city.
The law makes it harder to get bail. Thirty-two people have been kept in jail since 2021 because they were not allowed to pay bail. This is not common for cases that do not involve murder. Only 15 people were allowed to leave jail while they wait for their trial, but two of them were sent back to jail because they didn’t follow the rules of their release.
It also lets cases move to the mainland for trial in very serious situations. The leader of the city, John Lee, was asked if a new proposed bill in the US would cause cases in Hong Kong to be moved to the US.
Lee said he believes Hong Kong can deal with security problems, including big cases. He trusts the city’s judges and law enforcement officers to handle it.
Legal experts and governments in the West are upset that the national security law has made it harder for the city to have its own fair court system. But officials in Beijing and Hong Kong say it’s necessary for national security and have told foreign countries not to get involved in the city’s legal and internal matters.
Prior to the trial starting in February, the Hong Kong government criticized the trial as a scandal and an act that goes against the law in Hong Kong.
The election for the Legislative Council was postponed to 2021 because of health concerns during the coronavirus pandemic. The defendants were hoping to win by holding the primary vote.
While delaying, the authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong changed the rules for the city’s elections. They made the rules stricter to remove candidates who are not considered patriotic.
The government in Hong Kong has no lawmakers who support democracy, and there will also be no pro-democracy candidates in the district council elections in December.