Hong Kong ex-lawmaker Albert Ho may plead guilty in subversion case against Tiananmen vigil group
Hong Kong Free Press
Former Hong Kong opposition lawmaker Albert Ho may plead guilty in the subversion case against the now-disbanded group that was behind the city’s Tiananmen crackdown vigil for three decades, a court has heard.
Ho’s lawyer, Erik Shum, told three High Court judges on Friday that the veteran pro-democracy politician intended to change his plea and was “in touch” with the prosecution. Ho previously indicated that he would plead not guilty.
Ho, Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung – formerly of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China – were charged alongside the alliance itself with inciting subversion of state power under the Beijing-imposed national security law.
Shum did not give specifics regarding Ho’s talk with prosecutors but said the ex-lawmaker could submit a guilty plea before the trial began.
Judge Alex Lee ordered Ho to submit his plea intention by March 7 in written form to the court.
‘No other options’
Judge Lee also further delayed the start of the trial to November after earlier fixing May 6 as a start date. The judge is presiding over the national security trial of media tycoon Jimmy Lai, which passed the 136th day on Thursday.
“Due to an ongoing trial, the originally slated start date in early May has become impractical, but we still hope to begin this year,” Lee said in Cantonese, adding that November 3 is the earliest available date considering the schedules of fellow presiding judges Johnny Chan and Anna Lai.
He described the delay as “having no other options” and said that the trial “will certainly” begin in November.
Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow have been remanded in custody for more than 1,200 days, while Ho for over 1,000 days.
The court also heard that Chow, a barrister by profession, applied to have the charge against herself quashed on the grounds that the prosecution had failed to inform the defendants about the accusations in question.
“[The prosecutors] just cannot tell us what the unlawful means were in this case,” Chow said in Cantonese. “We simply cannot prepare our defence.”
The Beijing-imposed national security law stipulates that “acts by force or threat of force or other unlawful means” intending to subvert state power shall constitute an offence.
The three judges set a hearing for November 3 to handle Chow’s application and November 11 for the start of the present trial.
The bench also said there could be another pre-trial review in September, without fixing a date.
For three decades, the alliance organised an annual candlelight vigil to commemorate the victims of the Tiananmen crackdown, which occurred on June 4, 1989. It is estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, died when the People’s Liberation Army quashed a student-led pro-democracy movement in Beijing.
The vigil in Victoria Park has been banned since Beijing imposed its security law in June 2020. The alliance voted a year later to disband after its former leaders were prosecuted.
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