#FirstHand #Mar4 #Court
Friends and family of 47 Activists Express Disappointment at Bail Refusal

2015 | West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts

Outside the court, ex-lawmaker Eddie Chu’s wife Coco Au, wife of former legislator Leung Kwok-hung (a.k.a. Longhair), Chan Po-ying, activist Lester Shum’s wife Nicole Yu and the Civil Human Rights Front’s Figo Chan met the press in the late evening of March 4.

Speaking on behalf of the activist's family, Lester Shum's wife Nicole Yu said that they had been mentally prepared for the bail refusal but were still "very sad" finding their family members back in detention.

Source: Apple Daily, Stand News; #Mar4
Photo: #FirstHand

#PoliticalPrisoners #PoliceState #47Democrats

#FirstHand #Mar4 #Court
"You'll burn in hell, CCP": Arrestee's Foster Mother Gives Indignant Speech after DoJ Sends All 47 Activists Back to Custody

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/28923

I'm the foster mother of Hendick Lui Chi Hang. The 47 pro-democracy activists arrested shouldn’t be treated like that. I am indignant, but I know what I am talking about.

The whole thing (the arrest and trial) is totally wrong. They only did what was right.

I want to tell the CCP: what you're doing is wrong. If you don't repent, when judgment day comes, you'll go to hell. You'll be burned by eternal fire. You'll all be punished for your sins, for persecuting us innocent Hongkongers."

===Related news
Friends and family of 47 Activists Express Disappointment at Bail Refusal
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/28921

#PoliticalPrisoners #PoliceState #47Democrats

#FirstHand #Mar5 #Court
"Hang In There": Citizens Line the Streets in Support as 47 Activists are Taken Back to Custody

0007 | Lau Chi Kok Reception Center

Police had cordoned off the parking area by the Magistrates’ Courts, only allowing journalists to enter.

After midnight on 5 March, the crowd of citizens waiting in support for the 47 arrested activists thus went to the Lau Chi Kok Reception Center to see them off.

They lined the sidewalk, waving cell phone lights and shouting words of encouragement as their vehicle passed by: "Hongkongers, add oil!" "Hang in there!"

#PoliticalPrisoners #YNWA #47Democrats

#47Democrats #PoliticalPrisoners
Frankie Fung, Privileged Youth Turned Activist: "It will be okay even if I don’t get to see the liberation of Hong Kong”

Source: In-Media HK #Mar2

#PrimaryElections #PoliticalPrisoners

Read more
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#FirstHand #Mar12
21 of 47 democrats denied bail; Supporters chant "Victory to Democracy" outside the Court

21 of #47Democrats detained on charges of subversion under the National Security Law appeared in the Western Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on March 12 for bail hearing.

The Court upheld its decision to refuse bail to 11 of them, while 10 others withdrew their appeals.

A large group of supporters gathered outside the court to show support. Among them was Granny Wong who showed up with a British flag and a small umbrella, a symbol of the pro-democracy movement which also signifies “support and solidarity” to each fellow protester.

At the end of the hearing and when police vehicle was seen leaving the Court, Granny Wong ran into the cordoned area by Police and shouted, “Hang in there, fellow protesters. Victory to democracy.”

The 47 defendants were accused of conspiring to commit subversion by taking part in LegCo primary elections last year. Only five have been released on bail so far, pending their next hearing in late May.

#Court #PoliticalPrisoners #YNWA

#Court #PoliticalPrisoners
HK Court Sentences Pro-democracy Activists #JoshuaWong and KooSzeYiu to Longer Jail Time for Protesting Against #AntiMaskLaw

Source: InMedia; Stand News #Apr13

Read more
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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29386

#Court #PoliticalPrisoners
HK Court Sentences Pro-democracy Activists #JoshuaWong and KooSzeYiu to Longer Jail Time for Protesting Against #AntiMaskLaw

On April 13, 2021, the Eastern Court in Hong Kong gave longer jail terms to pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong and Koo Sze-yiu, for violating the anti-mask law and joining unauthorised assembly on October 5, 2019, the day when the anti-mask law was enacted after bypassing the city's legislature.

24-year-old Wong, who is now in jail for his involvement in the 2019 anti-ELAB movement, is given another four months in prison. The magistrate Daniel Tang insisted that Wong has to serve the four-month prison sentence separately, in addition to his current 13.5 month term.

Wong is also one of the 47 pro-democracy figures charged with #NationalSecurityLaw violations for joining the primary election of the pro-democracy camp in 2020.

75-year-old veteran activist Koo Sze-yiu, who is diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, is sentenced to another five months in jail. He only left the prison last week for desecrating the Chinese emblem during a protest in July 2020.

After their sentences were announced, Koo said to the magistrate, "Being jailed has become part of my life. I won't give up and I will keep fighting." He also shout, "All hail democracy! All hail human rights!". Koo thanked fellow Hongkongers for their support.

When Wong was escorted away, he made a heart shape with his fingers and expressed his appreciation to the supporting public.

Source: InMedia; Stand News #Apr13
https://bit.ly/3wOys5j
https://bit.ly/3g9VTjA

#PoliceState #PoliticalSuppression #Injustice #Cancer

#Court #47Democrats #PoliticalSuppression
A Journalist's Account of Witnessing the Trial of 47 Pro-democracy Activists in Hong Kong's Court

Part 1

[Editor's note: The Hong Kong authorities arrested and charged 47 pro-democracy with #NationalSecurityLaw violations for their participation in the primary election of the democratic camp in 2020. The trial began in the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts on March 1, 2021.

The following is a reflective account written by Hong Kong journalist Cheung Hoi-kit.]

In the court room, the 47 pro-democracy activists took half of the seats, crowding the area behind the defendant fence and the seats outside. It is like the entire dissidents camp has been arrested at once. Regardless of their ages, ranks and the political party, they became a community, facing their fate together.

With the large number of defendants and their lawyers, the main court did not have seats for the families, reporters and the public. Families could not stay close to the defendants, not even to have any eye contact, as they had to watch the hearing through the live broadcast.

The main court accomodated neither family members nor reporters. Even more so, no bail statement discussion was allowed. The marathon-style trial was like an epic, where countless tales were recounted.

The court debated on a wide range of media reports of the 47 pro-democracy activists. Although the chief magistrate Victor So said that those stories were touching, he claimed that those reports did not point to any public benefit.

Linda Wong, a senior counsel representing the defendants, argued that those stories were not a paragraph in a fiction, but the experience and the true background of a person. The defendants were not mere numbers.

The cold legal provisions and heart warming personal stories continued to compete in the court room.

Source: HK Citizens News #Mar14
Image: Sophiekiu.artsy
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29387

https://www.hkcnews.com/article/39218/47%E4%BA%BA%E5%88%9D%E9%81%B8%E6%A1%88-%E6%B0%91%E4%B8%BB%E6%B4%BE%E5%88%9D%E9%81%B8-%E5%88%9D%E9%81%B8%E5%A4%A7%E8%B5%B7%E8%A8%B4-39218/%E3%80%90%E6%8E%A1%E8%A8%AA%E6%89%8B%E8%A8%98%E3%80%9147%E4%BA%BA%E6%A1%88%E5%9B%9B%E6%97%A5%E5%9B%9B%E5%A4%9C%E3%80%8C%E5%8F%B2%E8%A9%A9%E5%BC%8F%E6%8F%90%E5%A0%82%E3%80%8D%E7%9A%84%E4%B8%80%E4%BA%9B%E5%82%99%E5%BF%98

#Reflection #PoliticalPrisoners

#Court #47Democrats #PoliticalSuppression
A Journalist's Account: Lengthy Court Hearings Bring 47 Pro-democracy Activists to Exhaustion

[Editor's note: The Hong Kong authorities arrested and charged 47 pro-democracy with #NationalSecurityLaw violations for their participation in the primary election of the democratic camp in 2020. The trial began in the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts on March 1, 2021.

The following is a reflective account written by Hong Kong journalist Cheung Hoi-kit.]

Part 1:
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29388

Continue with Part 2 below:

Among the 47 pro-democracy activists charged, legal scholar Benny Tai has believed in the Hong Kong Basic Law for all his life. He did not say much in court on these consecutive days.

Since the trial could not be done on the first day, he needed to attend two court hearings in the following days. They were an appeal case concerning the Occupy Central with Love and Peace (#OCLP) in 2014 and the bail trial for the primary election. Even the chief magistrate Victor So claimed to see Tai's fatigue.

Laywer Lawrence Lau has helped the pro-democracy protester Tong Ying-Kit, who was the first Hongkongers to be charged with National Security violations. However, this time Lau himself is also one of the defendants being charged with "conspiracy to subvert state powers".

Lau chose to defend himself. He said he had never expected himself to breach the law. The statement was simple and straight-forward.

Former Stand News reporter Gwyneth Ho was cheerful as usual. She was heard humming a Cantonese pop song "So I say I love you" on the first day of the trial.

Former legislator Lam Cheuk-Ting told his wife, "I love you".

However, after days of trial, several defendents started to ger unwell. The atmosphere in the court also changed significantly. For three days and nights, the defendants were even not given a chance to take a shower or change their clothes.

Source: HK Citizens News #Mar14

https://www.hkcnews.com/article/39218/47%E4%BA%BA%E5%88%9D%E9%81%B8%E6%A1%88-%E6%B0%91%E4%B8%BB%E6%B4%BE%E5%88%9D%E9%81%B8-%E5%88%9D%E9%81%B8%E5%A4%A7%E8%B5%B7%E8%A8%B4-39218/%E3%80%90%E6%8E%A1%E8%A8%AA%E6%89%8B%E8%A8%98%E3%80%9147%E4%BA%BA%E6%A1%88%E5%9B%9B%E6%97%A5%E5%9B%9B%E5%A4%9C%E3%80%8C%E5%8F%B2%E8%A9%A9%E5%BC%8F%E6%8F%90%E5%A0%82%E3%80%8D%E7%9A%84%E4%B8%80%E4%BA%9B%E5%82%99%E5%BF%98

#PoliceState #BemnyTai #LawrenceLau #GwynethHo #LamCheukTing

#Reflection #PoliticalPrisoners