League of Social Democrats members accused of unlicensed fundraising set to enter pleas in October
Hong Kong Free Press
Ten members of pro-democracy party the League of Social Democrats (LSD) accused of unlicensed fundraising are considering how to plead to the charges laid against them, a Hong Kong court has heard. They will rely on two precedent cases for their pleas, including a recent appellate court ruling that upheld LSD chair Chan Po-ying’s conviction for raising funds without a permit.
Their next court appearance has been scheduled for October 31.
Chan Po-ying, Yu Wai-pan, Tsang Kin-shing, Lee Ying-chi, Dickson Chau, Christina Tang, Lai Ka-lai, Lo Tak-wah, Chan Tsz-cheung, and Cheung Lok-chung appeared before Magistrate Frances Leung at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Friday morning.
The 10 members together face a total of 26 charges of collecting money in a public place without a permit and displaying bills or posters on government land without permission.
They are accused of raising funds and displaying posters last year on April 2 and 30 and May 28 at the intersection of Great George Street and East Point Road in Causeway Bay and outside Wan Chai MTR station. The poster in question was a plain black banner.
‘Free speech’
Chan, speaking for the other nine members of the LSD on Friday, applied to have their next court appearance adjourned to the end of the year, to give them time to decide how they would plea based on the results of two precedent cases, including a recent Court of Appeal ruling that upheld her conviction for unlicensed fundraising in 2021.
Judge Leung allowed their next appearance to be adjourned to October 31.
Chan said she would be taking the separate unlicensed fundraising case against her to the city’s Court of Final Appeal. The Court of Appeal on Tuesday upheld her conviction and HK$1,000 fine over displaying QR codes for the party’s Patreon page at street booths in Mong Kok on July 24 and August 14 in 2021.
During the July appeal hearing, Chan argued that calling for donations was an exercise in her freedom of speech.
The LSD members’ pleas would also depend on the result of the government’s unauthorised banners case against Pun Lin-fa, a Falun Gong practitioner, Chan said. The two cases would have a “great impact” on how they would plea, Chan told the court.
The LSD members will also make submissions on whether a printout of a QR code, without any verbal or written calls for donations, could amount to an attempt to collect money in public, Chan said, referring to the 2023 offence. They will also argue that police actions against them were disproportionate, as officers gave the group no warning, only to directly prosecute LSD members after the fact.
According to court records, Chan faces three counts of fundraising without a permit and three of displaying posters without a permit.
Last June, HSBC closed three bank accounts used by the LSD for receiving donations, saying in a letter seen by HKFP that it had “taken into account multiple factors and conducted a comprehensive assessment” before shutting down the accounts.
PayPal Hong Kong halted services for LSD due to unspecified “excessive risks” in October 2022. The payment platform never explained what the “excessive risks” were, according to the LSD.
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