At the HK Alliance NatSec trial…
Government prosecutors Ned Lai and Ivan Cheung read out about four-fifths of the prosecution’s 86-page opening statement on Monday, a significant part of which quoted verbatim speeches made by the three activists over the group’s three decades of activism.
…The prosecution played videos dating back to 1996 of the group’s activists making speeches at the city’s annual Tiananmen candlelight vigils, as well as at press briefings and during interviews with reporters.
…The years of videos showed in court featured Lee [Cheuk-yan] and [Albert] Ho calling for an end to one-party rule, a key focus of its political platform.
Lee, seated in the public gallery, was seen wiping his eyes at one point after watching a video of a speech he made at the vigil in 1997. In the video, he addressed a crowd at Victoria Park saying: “Without a democratic China, there will not be a democratic Hong Kong, therefore, our support for the Chinese pro-democracy movement is to usher in a democratic future for Hong Kong and for China.”
…“[The activists] spread the Alliance’s long-held illegal subversive goal of ‘ending one-party rule’ through chanting slogans, as well as continuing to incite others to join or identify with the Alliance, further promoting, and appealing for support and donations, for the Alliance,” the prosecution’s opening statement – written in Chinese – read.
That’s it: chanting slogans. There is, of course, no jury. Which brings us on to…
Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office Xia Baolong emphasizes the importance of ‘executive-led government’ in Hong Kong. This has always been code for ‘no checks and balances/separation of powers’, and he spells this out pretty clearly…
[Xia] told a seminar that Hong Kong had faced challenges in implementing the governing mechanism, with attempts by anti-China and external forces to advocate for “separation of powers”.
“[They] had hoped to weaken the authority of the chief executive and the SAR government, thereby undermining the authority of the central government as well as resisting and rejecting the power of central authorities. This is absolutely not permitted,” Xia was quoted as saying in a statement by his office.
…In his address, the Beijing official said the key to maintaining and enhancing the governing principle is for the chief executive to take full responsibility in leading the SAR, while aligning with the country’s latest five-year plan and being more forward-looking and proactive in pushing for development.
The executive-led system requires active support and cooperation from the legislature and the judiciary, Xia said, adding that the three branches must offer mutual help and not undermine one another.
…Legco president Starry Lee pointed out that lawmakers have arranged a gathering to study key messages from the seminar, which she said has clearly outlined the roles and duties of the new legislature.
She said legislators would put their heads together, perform their constitutional duty and fully support the government.
Why have a legislature that ‘fully supports the government’? How does it, as analysts say, add value?
Lester Shum is out…
It has become standard practice for those jailed in the Hong Kong 47 case to be released from prison in vehicles with curtains drawn during the early morning. Some of them have been photographed by reporters when they arrived at their residences.
How does it, as analysts say, add value?
Well, it does add value to the bank balances of the specially selected minions who would otherwise have to find other ways of boosting their income.
Hong Kong prosecutors say case against anti-China activists not a political trial
I know they are lawyers, but how can anyone be so intellectually dishonest?
These Marxist-Leninist knuckle draggers like Xia are great at contradicting themselves.
If there is no separation of powers, how can there be an independent judiciary? The independent judiciary is still emphasised in the NSL era particularly because it’s no longer plainly obvious thanks to the 100% conviction rate of jury free NSL trials involving nothing more than mere chants, chats, articles, and primaries.
I have yet to see a real national security crime. All these gangsters are doing is punishing outspoken people of a political affiliation they don’t like in violation of the ICCPR that supposedly applies to HK and even the NSL but routinely ignored as window dressing by the courts despite being binding international law.