Hong Kong: First trial under new national security law begins with 'no jury'

Hong Kong on Wednesday began the trial of the first person who was arrested on July 1, 2020, under the draconian national security law without a jury. Altering the legal landscape of the autonomous city under the administration of the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong started a trial of Tong Ying-Kit on charges of terrorism and incitement to succession as he had flashed an anti-government slogan on a flag that read, ”Liberate Hong Kong! Revolution of our times" during the civil disobedience movement. 

The 24-year-old, who pleaded ‘not guilty’ also allegedly rammed his bike into the police officers last year during the July 1 pro-democracy protests, where political activists had gathered disobeying the curfew to oppose Beijing’s national security law by using what the Hong Kong calls unlawful tactics. About 4,000 officers were on stand by that day, among whom several were injured, while one was stabbed in the arm, according to press reports.

[Credit: AP]

Hong Kongers hold citywide marches and rallies on July 1 each year to observe the anniversary of when Hong Kong came under the rule of China. Ying-Kit was among the crowd of anti-China civilians protesting in defiance of Beijing’s authoritarian rule and its sweeping national security law that had stripped the city of civil and social freedoms. He, along with 370 others, including a 15-year-old girl was taken into detention by the police with coercion under the national security law. 

The controversial legislation, imposed on Hong Kong by the central Chinese government, took effect on June 30, 2020. It seeks to outlaw dissent or anti-government sentiment, secession, subversion, terrorism, and foreign collusion with foreign forces in the city’s internal affairs. The penalty for serious offenders is life imprisonment. Hong Kong arrested media mogul Jimmy Lai, the founder of the famous pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, as well as prominent pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow under the internationally criticised law. 

[Police officers stand guard as Tong Ying-kit is arriving at a court in Hong Kong. Credit:AP]

2 courts reject Tong's plea

As the trial for Ying-Kit began on June 23, at least 2 courts rejected Tong's plea to have his case heard by a jury, which his attorney argued was the defendant’s “constitutional right.” Without the jury, Ying-Kit would face lifetime imprisonment, if convicted. A jury trial is a cornerstone in Hong Kong’s 176-year-old law system and is described as the "most important feature” of the judiciary. In fact, even under China’s draconian national security law, those sentenced have been entitled to at least 3 prosecutors, but the city’s justice secretary invoked no jury clause for Ying-Kit in what is being viewed as the “landmark” case in the jurisdiction to deter the future anti-government movements in Hong Kong. Ying-Kit trial is being conducted at a High Court. 

Separately, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper announced that it will close by this weekend after the police officers raided the office and forcefully arrested five editors and other employees. Hong Kong froze approximately $2.3 million in assets that were linked to the paper, the board of directors said in a statement, obtained by The Associated Press. The pro-democracy newspaper announced that it was scrapping the publication for both print and online edition no later than Saturday due to “the current circumstances prevailing in Hong Kong.”