Hong Kong 47: Ex-law scholar Benny Tai among 4 due in court for mitigation on June 25

Hong Kong Free Press

Four pre-democracy figures in the landmark national security case involving 47 Hong Kong democrats will appear in court later this month for mitigation, according to the judiciary’s website.

The court date was scheduled days after the High Court last Thursday convicted 14 former activists and lawmakers of conspiring to commit subversion. They now join 31 democrats who earlier pleaded guilty to the charge in awaiting sentencing. Two of the 47 democrats were cleared, although the government has announced it intends to appeal their acquittals.

A long line of people waiting to get into the West Kowloon Law Courts Building on May 30, 2024, where three judges will deliver their verdict to 16 defendants involved in the city's largest national security case. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP — A long line of people waiting to get into the West Kowloon Law Courts Building on May 30, 2024, where three judges will deliver their verdict to 16 defendants involved in the city’s largest national security case. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP

Former district councillors Andrew Chiu and Ben Chung, and former pro-democracy lawmaker Au Nok-hin, all of whom testified against his co-defendants for the prosecution during the trial will appear in court on June 25 for mitigation.

Also present will be Benny Tai, a former law professor who pleaded guilty to the national security charge and who was alleged to be the initiator of an unofficial primary election around which the national security case revolved.

Mitigation proceedings are expected to last for three days.

The 47 democrats were arrested in 2021 and charged under the security law with “conspiracy to commit subversion,” after they organised unofficial primary elections in a bid to win a controlling majority in the 2020 legislative election.

The maximum penalty is life in prison, while the minimum sentence – under a three-tier system laid out by the security legislation – is “fixed term imprisonment of not more than three years, short-term detention or restriction.”

Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.