The total time is over 30 hours!

47 people from the Hong Kong opposition heard three days to "set a record"

　　[Global Times reporter Yang Weimin] 55 Hong Kong opposition parties participated in the so-called "35+ primaries" in July last year (in an attempt to gain at least 35 seats in the Legislative Council). Among them, Dai Yaoting, the initiator of the "primary election", and 47 others were charged with conspiracy The crime of subverting state power.

The case opened in West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts this Monday, and the hearing lasted until 0:00 on the 4th, with a total time of more than 30 hours.

　　According to a report by the Hong Kong Oriental Daily News on the 3rd, when the case was brought before the West Kowloon Court on the 1st, because the prosecution objected to the defendants’ bail, the bail application process was initiated, but the bail application process was not completed for more than 12 hours.

The hearing on the 2nd started at noon, and the court did not go away until 10 o'clock in the evening. A total of 39 defendants' bail application submissions were completed in two days.

Some defendants claimed that they had not taken a bath for many days, and expressed their willingness to exchange so-called "stringent conditions" for bail, including extinction on social media, not being interviewed, not publishing articles, and not leaving their homes.

Among them, the defendant Liu Weicong, a barrister, claimed in his own submission that he would not participate in any elections, election-related demonstrations and forums in the future.

The designated judge and chief magistrate of the Hong Kong National Security Law, Su Huide, has repeatedly reiterated that unless there are sufficient reasons to believe that the defendants will not continue to commit acts involving crimes that endanger national security, the court should not approve bail.

　　Rarely, this trial continued in the middle of the night.

The magistrate announced that the court will be held at noon on the 3rd to hear the last eight defendants' submissions on bail applications, during which 47 defendants must continue to be remanded.

Senior Counsel Leung Jiajie announced in court that he would cease to represent the defendants Tan Wenhao, Guo Jiaqi, Yang Yueqiao and Li Yuxin. All four defendants withdrew from the Citizen Party.

Another defendant, Wu Miner, announced his withdrawal from the Labor Party.

As of the evening of the 3rd, Su Huide stated that because some defendants had to make their own bail application statements, the completion of the trial on the same day was "not very optimistic," and it is expected that a ruling can be made on the 4th.

　　The hearing lasted for 3 days, which is unique in Hong Kong's judicial history.

According to "Sing Tao Daily" report on the 3rd, Hong Kong's famous senior barrister and "Golden Tooth" Qing Hong stated that he has been engaged in legal work for more than 40 years and has not seen similar situations.

Former Commissioner of Criminal Prosecution Jiang Leshi said that ordinary cases involve one or a small group of defendants, so the preliminary hearing can be handled quickly on the same day. Such a large number of defendants in this case is quite rare, and "the length of time can be called a Hong Kong record."

　　During the trial of this case involving Hong Kong’s National Security Law, another case involving Dai Yaoting also opened in court. According to a report from Oriental Daily on the 3rd, Dai Yaoting, who initiated the illegal "Occupy Central" in 2014, and 8 others were convicted of conspiracy and inciting others to commit public nuisance in April 2019, and they all appealed. On the 2nd, the court of appeal began, and Dai Yaoting was handcuffed and taken to the High Court in a prison car. Earlier, Dai Yaoting and his accomplice Chen Jianmin were sentenced to 16 months' imprisonment. Chen Jianmin has already served his sentence. After serving about 16 weeks, Dai was allowed to go out on bail pending appeal. On the 2nd, members of the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police also arrested Ding Jiayu, the former executive director of Next Media Group, on suspicion of fraud. Eleven people have been arrested in this case, and the principal culprit is Li Zhiying, the founder of Next Media.