47 democrats involved in organizing or participating in the "35+" primary elections of the democrats were charged with conspiracy to subvert state power. 30 defendants have already stated that they will plead guilty. Day) A case management hearing was held in the West Kowloon Court (temporarily acting as the High Court). Seven of the defendants were worried that if they had to wait until the trial of the defendant who had pleaded guilty before being sentenced, or the defendant who had pleaded guilty would be remanded for longer than the actual sentence. They are allowed to plead and sentence before trial.
However, after the three designated judges of the National Security Law heard the submissions, they decided to sentence all the defendants who pleaded guilty, and the decision was postponed until the end of the trial, and the reasons would be explained in writing later.
Judge Chen Jiaxin withdraws from the trial due to health reasons and will be postponed
The case was originally heard by judges Chen Zhongheng, Chen Qingwei and Chen Jiaxin.
However, Judge Chen Zhongheng pointed out after the court session that Judge Chen Jiaxin will withdraw from the case due to health reasons and will be tried by Judge Li Yunteng. It is expected that the trial date will be delayed by about 1 to 2 weeks.
16 people interrogated 7 people for early processing and sentencing
The 16 defendants who appeared in court today: Yuan Jiawei, Liang Huangwei, Xu Zijian, Mao Mengjing, Feng Dajun, Liu Zefeng, Huang Zhifeng, Chu Kaidi, Huang Ziyue, Wu Miner, Tan Kaibang, Liu Yingkuang, Fan Guowei, Lu Zhiheng, Shun Aohui and Wang Baiyu, of which only Huang Ziyue and Lu Zhiheng were allowed bail.
In addition, He Guilan and Wu Zhengheng, who have pleaded not guilty, also attended the hearing today.
The seven defendants, Yuan Jiawei, Wu Miner, Fan Guowei, Mao Mengjing, Liu Zefeng, Huang Zhifeng, and Feng Dajun, applied for sentencing before the trial of the acquitted defendants.
30 defendants who said they would plead guilty.
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The prosecution believes that there will be no sitting convexity
Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Wan Dehao said that the seven defendants who requested early processing of the sentence believed that there would be a "serious risk" that they would have to serve additional sentences if they waited for the trial to be sentenced.
However, Wan pointed out that the trial is expected to end in June this year. At that time, the defendants will be remanded in custody for about 2 years and 3 months. If their final sentencing starting point is 5 years, after deducting factors such as good behavior and guilty plea deductions, I believe it is still not enough. There will be a "sitting convex" situation.
The median sentence is also 6.5 years
Wan continued to point out that the prosecution accused the defendant of attempting to disintegrate the parliament through the primary election, force the chief executive to resign and even shut down the government. The case is extremely serious.
Even if the court adopts the sentencing standard for "ringleaders or persons with serious crimes" in the law, that is, the minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, it is not unfair. What's more, all the defendants in the case actively participated in the primary election and promoted the destruction of the government and parliament. It belongs to the minor level, and it should be sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison, and the median is about 6.5 years. There is no "serious risk" that will cause them to worry.
New evidence may be revealed at trial
Wan also pointed out that if a pre-trial sentence is allowed, the court will hear the pleadings of the defendant for sentencing.
On the other hand, after the trial of the case, new evidence may be disclosed. If the role of individual defendants in the case is involved, if discrepancies between the evidence and the pleading are discovered at this time, for example: the defense may downplay the actual role of some defendants. The court has also been unable to "reverse the verdict", causing injustice.
Seventeen defendants who have pleaded not guilty will stand trial.
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The defense pointed out that the national security law stipulates that the cases must be dealt with as soon as possible
The barrister representing the defense, Leung Lai Kwa, responded that the guilty defendants have no chance to challenge the new evidence disclosed in the trial. These defendants will only plead guilty to the already prepared case, and the court does not need to consider the trial or the availability of new evidence.
Another defense barrister, Huang Yabin, pointed out that the National Security Law does not stipulate that the defendant who has pleaded guilty must wait for the trial of the co-accused to be completed before being sentenced, but instead specifies that the case must be dealt with as soon as possible.
It's not humane to have to plead guilty and wait indefinitely.
Barrister Cai Yiming also stated that this application is to avoid any chance of causing injustice, and the court should not make any assumptions when considering it, including whether the defendant will receive a deduction for good behavior in prison.
Another barrister, Margaret Ng, pointed out that the facts of the case agreed by the guilty defendant are very detailed, and the court only needs to consider this case when sentencing. On the contrary, it is difficult to predict the evidence that will appear in the trial, which may affect the credibility of the guilty defendant.
Furthermore, these defendants were ready to plead guilty early in the morning. If the court asks them to wait until after the trial, it will not only hinder their future rehabilitation plans, but also make them wait indefinitely. This is quite inhumane.
After the three judges retreated to deliberate for nearly an hour, they decided to postpone the sentencing of the guilty defendant until the conclusion of the case. The reasons will be announced at a later date.
Case number: HCCC70/2022
There are currently 13 defendants released on bail.
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Pan-democratic 47-person primary election｜17 defendants who have pleaded not guilty will start trial on January 30 next year for 90 days. Pan-democracy 47-person primary election defendant Wu Jianwei said he will plead guilty so far. 30 people have pleaded guilty so far. Request for Chinese interrogation refused to disclose or will not have a lawyer to represent the pan-democrat 47 primary election case｜The High Court refused to release Lin on bail, saying that Lin had said that he would lobby for foreign sanctions