47 pro-democracy figures involved in organizing or participating in the pro-democracy "35+" primary election were charged with conspiracy to subvert state power. The cases of 16 of the defendants who pleaded not guilty were filed today (13th) in the West Kowloon Court (temporary High Court) to continue the trial, after the prosecution completed its opening statement last week, it will start calling witnesses today (13th).
After the court dealt with some legal disputes this morning, Au Nuoxuan was escorted by three correctional officers to testify in court in the afternoon.
Au revealed that after Dai Yaoting put forward the idea of "more than half of the parliament", there was a pan-democratic dinner in January 2020, and Au described everything that started here.
Those who attended that day included Dai Yaoting, Lee Cheuk-yan, and Li Yongda. They all talked about the need for a coordination mechanism to establish a political force that is classified as the "yellow camp", regardless of traditional, radical or local, but Dai Yaoting insisted on using citizens Voting form, primary election mechanism.
Defendant Au Nuoxuan, who was turned into a witness for the prosecution, appeared in court today to testify.
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When Ou Nuoxuan entered the court today, he brought his statement with him.
Judge Chen Zhongheng pointed out that unless approved by the court, the statement should not be read during the testimony, so he put it on the other side of the witness stand.
Judge Li Yunteng pointed out that reading other documents related to the case is also not allowed.
The district court said "understood".
Yin Zhaojian, Cen Aohui, Yuan Jiawei and Wu Miner, who were listening in the extended court, looked around when they heard that Au appeared in court.
Dai Yaoting's article attracts the attention of pan-democrats
When Au testified, Dai published an article in Apple Daily in December 2019 titled "More than half of the Legislative Meeting". In January of the following year, the general public began to notice the article.
He described in court that "everything started with a dinner", and revealed that at the end of January 2020, he attended a dinner, and the attendees included Lee Cheuk-ren, Lee Wing Tat and Dai Yaoting.
Au pointed out that Huang Haoming was also present, but Huang was late.
At that time, Lee Cheuk-yan and Lee Wing-tat were concerned about how the democrats could maximize their chances of winning the Legislative Council elections in the future.
Proposed 3 points including cooperation with Huangying Media
District said Dai mentioned at the dinner that the democrats won a big victory in the district council elections in November 2019. They need to think about how to make another victory and win more seats in the upcoming Legislative Council elections. He raised three points: first, democratic Pai won a big victory in the District Council elections in November 2019, and needed to think about how to make another victory; second, at the time of the anti-amendment movement, the democrats had to consider how to fight for the five major demands; After the big victory, how will the democrats use this space to strive for a mechanism for citizen participation, and then cooperate with the participation of "yellow camp media" and civil society groups to establish a platform.
Au Nuoxuan mentioned the pan-democrats who attended the dinner.
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Winning more seats requires a coordination mechanism
Dai explained that if the democrats want to win more seats in the Legislative Council, they need a coordinating mechanism.
The Legislative Council adopts a proportional representation system, and in the past election results of democrats usually have a pattern: although the number of votes is higher than that of the establishment, they do not get the corresponding proportion of seats in the constituency.
At this time, the court interpreter failed to translate the word "proportional seats" several times, causing laughter in the prisoner's column.
Everyone Discusses the Establishment of Yellow Camp Political Forces
The district also said that the above phenomenon is caused by the fact that democrats often have too many lists to run for election, resulting in a waste of votes.
The establishment camp has established a mature coordination mechanism since 2008, while the democrats have still failed to establish such a mechanism since 2020.
Therefore, everyone is discussing how to establish a coordination mechanism, so that any political forces classified as the "yellow camp", whether traditional, radical or local, can coordinate with each other, make good use of votes, and be elected in proportion.
Day insists on primary election mechanism in the form of referendum
The district added that the dinner took place in Hong Kong.
Dai insisted at the time that the primary election mechanism should be held in the form of a referendum. However, other dinner participants believed that holding a referendum would consume manpower and material resources. refer to.
The district also pointed out that the proposal put forward at that time was a basic framework. In terms of direction, for example, in different constituencies, through referendums, representatives of the pan-democratic faction that voters would support were elected, and then the order of election was determined.
At the same time, the discussion at that time mainly focused on the five constituencies for direct elections and the second constituency of the functional constituencies.
The attendance of defendants and pan-democrats.
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Huang Zhifeng and others were arranged to observe in the extended court
As seen in the court, the seating arrangement in the prisoner's pen has changed, and the defendants who are still in custody and released on bail are no longer divided into two groups.
Among the 9 people who were released on bail, 7 male defendants sat in the second row, 2 female defendants sat on the other side of the prisoner's row, and Liu Weicong, who defended himself, remained in the lawyer's seat.
As for the six defendants on remand, they sat in the third row.
In addition, the guilty defendants Huang Zhifeng, Yuan Jiawei, Tan Kaibang, Feng Dajun, Wu Miner, Cen Aohui and Zhu Kaidi who were allowed to attend the hearing last week did not attend the main court. They were arranged to observe in several extended courts.
The defendants who were being tried all looked relaxed, and Wu Zhengheng even swayed from side to side before the trial.
More than 100 people, including South Asians and Africans, lined up outside the courthouse for the public seats.
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Africans also line up for the public seats
In addition, about 100 people lined up outside the court this morning, including many South Asians.
In addition, the African man in the queue said that a friend asked him to queue and would buy him a drink afterwards. He admitted that he did not know whether the queue was for a case, nor did he know that it was for planning.
Primary Election Case｜African man lined up for his friends, claiming that he drank alcohol after the incident, and spectators stared at the glass on the 3rd floor of the West Kowloon Court. Suspected shooting at the overpass on the opposite side was temporarily closed, and the police continued to guard
Seeking to prove the authenticity of the accused defendant's article
The court did not start calling witnesses this morning, but it did deal with some disputes between lawyers for the prosecution and the defense.
Regarding Facebook and YouTube posts, He Guilan's barrister Trevor Beel pointed out that why would not dispute the authenticity of his posts, but the prosecution needs to prove that Dai Yaoting and other defendants who did not participate in the trial published articles and statements.
Conspiracy statement against each defendant
Barrister Shen Shiwen, representing Huang Biyun and Zou Jiacheng, also pointed out that he did not see the prosecution's "co-conspirator principle" in the opening statement.
Judge Li Yunteng pointed out that the prosecution has clearly stated in the facts of the case that it relies on this principle.
Shen continued to point out that it is necessary to know which part of the evidence and confession involved in the case and which defendant it is against. Judge Chen Qingwei questioned why he did not raise it before the pre-trial, bluntly saying that his statement was a "misconception", and asked him whether the prosecution always This principle should be mentioned every time.
Li Yunteng added that the alleged speeches and actions of the joint conspiracy were aimed at each defendant.
Handling of events that occurred before the National Security Law took effect
Ma Weikun, the barrister representing Chen Zhiquan, pointed out that the time of the charges was from July 1, 2020 to January 7, 2021, and believed that the prosecution did not allege that there was a conspiracy involved in the case before July 1, 2020.
Judge Li Yunteng pointed out that Ma's statement was "completely misunderstood", and pointed out that the national security law only came into effect on July 1, 2020, so the prosecution used that day as the first day of the charge, and pointed out what happened on that date. It can provide the background of the defendant's behavior, evidence involving the defendant's thoughts at the time, etc.
Ma emphasized that he insisted against the relevant evidence being presented in court, but argued that they could not prove the defendant's plan to bring about the case.
The prosecution clarifies the defense's request
The defense earlier asked the prosecution to clarify whether the details of the charges mentioned whether to run for election or not to run for the Legislative Council, and to obtain a majority in the Legislative Council after being elected, thereby abusing power to veto budget proposals indiscriminately. overt act), or "unlawful acts" in the content of the conspiracy agreement referred to in the opening statement.
Wan Dehao, deputy prosecutor of the Department of Justice, responded today that these acts are "public acts", and if the conspiracy plan is successful, the defendants will implement it.
16 defendants pleaded not guilty.
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16 defendants: Wu Zhengheng (44 years old), Zheng Dahong (34 years old), Yang Xueying (36 years old), Peng Zhuoqi (28 years old), He Qiming (34 years old), Liu Weicong (55 years old), Huang Biyun (63 years old), Shi Delai (40 years old), He Guilan (32 years old), Chen Zhiquan (50 years old), Chow Ka-shing (25 years old), Lam Cheuk-ting (45 years old), Leung Kwok-hung (66 years old), Or Yiu-lam (51 years old), Li Yuxin (29 years old), Yu Huiming (35 years old).
The charge alleges that the defendants conspired to subvert state power between July 1, 2020 and January 7, 2021.
31 defendants pleaded guilty.
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31 defendants who have pleaded guilty: Dai Yaoting, Au Nuoxuan, Zhao Jiaxian, Zhong Jinlin, Yuan Jiawei, Liang Huangwei, Xu Zijian, Cen Zijie, Mao Mengjing, Feng Dajun, Liu Zefeng, Huang Zhifeng, Tam Wenhao, Li Jiada, Tan Dezhi, Hu Zhiwei, Zhu Kaidi, Zhang Kesen, Huang Ziyue, Yin Zhaojian , Guo Jiaqi, Wu Miner, Tan Kaibang, Liu Yingkuang, Yang Yueqiao, Fan Guowei, Lu Zhiheng, Cen Aohui, Wang Baiyu, Lin Jingnan, Wu Jianwei.
Of the 13 defendants released on bail, 10 pleaded not guilty.
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Case number: HCCC 69/2022
Primary election case.
Overview of the first week｜The prosecution opened the case and described the role of the 16 defendants in the primary election and speculation primary election｜Joyce Wong and others revealed their true feelings during the hearing. The officer reminded the court of the non-social gathering primary election｜Forum film saw Lin Jingnan claiming to be a brother and a prisoner Rumors of ridicule and someone raised the middle finger primary election｜He Guilan and other 3 people promised to veto the resolution indiscriminately. The official said that this is an important word primary election｜The prosecution cited multiple election remarks. Zou Jiacheng once said that the establishment of a nation against the Chinese nation
