13 Feb 2023法庭線#6039
47-person case | Prosecution witness Au Nok-hin says primary election originated at dinner with Benny Tai and others, Tai called LegCo majority a constitutional weapon
區諾軒供稱，初選「一切由飯局開始」，指在 2020 年 1 月與李永達、李卓人、黃浩銘與戴耀廷飯聚，戴指 2019 年區選民主派大勝，需思考在立法會選舉中「再下一城」。眾人席間討論建立參選協調機制，而戴「比較堅持用公民投票形式」。
區續供稱，戴席上稱若民主派能佔立法會議席逾半，「將會係一個大殺傷力嘅憲制武器」。區回應法官時進一步解釋，是指可行使《基本法》賦予的否決權，包括否決政府《財政預算案》。區又指，自己同意戴的願景「會係好大嘅進步」，遂答應任籌劃者，「貢獻我視之為民主運動嘅工作」。審訊周二（14 日）續。
Prosecution witness Au Nok-hin testified that the primary election “all began with a dinner”, saying he dined with Lee Wing-tat, Lee Cheuk-yan, Wong Ho-ming and Benny Tai in January 2020. Tai said that, following the pro-democracy camp’s major victory in the 2019 District Council election, they needed to consider “going one step further” in the Legislative Council election. The group discussed establishing a coordination mechanism for candidates, while Tai was “more insistent on using the form of a referendum”.
Au continued that Tai said at the dinner that if the pro-democracy camp could hold more than half of the Legislative Council seats, “it would be a constitutional weapon with enormous destructive power”. In response to the judge, Au further explained that this referred to exercising the power of veto granted by the Basic Law, including vetoing the government’s Budget. Au said he agreed that Tai’s vision “would be a very major step forward” and therefore agreed to serve as a planner, “contributing what I regarded as work for the democratic movement”. The trial will continue on Tuesday (the 14th).
13 Feb 2023法庭線#6040
Stand News Sedition Case | Prosecution Says It Did Not Republish “Ten Steps to Burn It All” Because It Knew the Content Was Illegal; Chung Pui-kuen Says Failure to Republish Was an “Oversight”
控方圍繞民主派初選盤問鍾沛權，包括「墨落無悔」聲明、《立場》協辦的初選論壇等，其中提到《立場》沒轉載戴耀廷的「攬炒十步曲」文章，因知道涉非法主張。鍾沛權否認，指直至自己被捕前，都不認為初選犯法。他解釋，當時覺得文章陳腔濫調、純粹戴對政局發展的推算，「十劃都未有一撇」，因而忽視了。到初選案後，他因為處理相關新聞再閱讀文章，發現「呢篇文章被視為重要罪證之一，先重新注視」，直言當時沒轉載，「諗返轉頭喺做新聞既角度係一種失誤」。
鍾沛權又供稱，初選大會邀請《立場》協辦初選論壇，「因為初選重要、多人關心」，盼透過協辦論壇，讓讀者知道初選參選人的政治主張。法官郭偉健兩度追問，鍾是否推動初選；鍾稱希望讓更多香港人接觸初選，「喺充分知悉下做決定」。案件周二（14 日）續審，控方會就何桂藍、鄒家成及梁晃維專訪盤問。
The prosecution questioned Chung Pui-kuen about the pan-democratic primary election, including the “No Regrets After the Ink Is Spilled” statement and primary election forums co-organised by Stand News. It also raised the issue of Stand News not republishing an article by Benny Tai entitled “Ten Steps to Burn It All”, allegedly because it knew the article involved unlawful propositions. Chung denied this, saying that until his arrest he did not believe the primary election was illegal. He explained that he considered the article clichéd and merely Tai’s speculation about political developments, with “not even a single stroke of the plan” in place, and therefore overlooked it. After the primary election case began, he read the article again while handling related news and found that “this article was regarded as one of the important pieces of evidence in the case, so I paid attention to it again”. He said frankly that, looking back, not republishing it “was an oversight from the perspective of doing news”.
Chung also testified that the primary election organisers invited Stand News to co-organise primary election forums “because the primary election was important and many people were concerned about it”. He said they hoped the forums would enable readers to understand the political positions of the primary election candidates. Judge Kwok Wai-kin twice asked whether Chung had promoted the primary election. Chung said he hoped to enable more Hong Kong people to learn about the primary election and “make a decision with full knowledge”. The trial will continue on Tuesday (14th), when the prosecution will question him about interviews with Au Nok-hin, Owen Chow Ka-shing and Leung Kwong-wai.
10 Feb 2023法庭線#6034
Stand News alleged sedition case | Chung Pui-kuen says IPCC report was crudely written and wrongly portrayed 7.21 as a “black- and white-clad people clash”
控方繼續圍繞監警會就反修例運動的審視報告盤問，指「正常人」在 2019 年可向監警會提交「罪證」，若公眾不提供，相關資料就不會在報告內出現。鍾沛權認為，是因為公眾不信任政府、監警會，「大家可能覺得點解要交資料？會唔會成為執法部門用嚟追究嘅材料？」鍾舉例提到 7.21 元朗事件，指監警會獲得逾千相關片段，惟最後錯誤演繹資料，將當日形容為黑、白衣人的衝突，質疑監警會「比我哋睇多好多嘢，反而最後寫出嚟，比好多媒體少好多嘢」。
他指，當日同事在襲擊中受傷，陪對方往急症室時，看到很多傷者是普通市民，包括穿著白裙的孕婦，「所以唔係白衣人襲擊黑衣人」。他指事件令民情高漲，並非僅因案發當日事件，而是警方、政府對事件的評論、態度「就算唔係進一步加深（不滿），都係維持緊大家對 7.21 事件嘅不滿，因為（警方）係不承認，甚至嘗試扭曲、重寫 7.21 事件嘅真相」。案件下周一（13 日）續審。
The prosecution continued questioning Chung Pui-kuen about the Independent Police Complaints Council’s report on the anti-extradition bill movement, saying that “normal people” could submit “evidence of crimes” to the IPCC in 2019, and that if members of the public did not provide it, the relevant information would not appear in the report. Chung said this was because the public did not trust the Government or the IPCC, asking: “Why should we submit the information? Could it become material used by law enforcement agencies to pursue us?”
Citing the 7.21 Yuen Long incident, Chung said the IPCC had obtained more than 1,000 relevant video clips but ultimately misinterpreted the information, describing the day as a clash between black- and white-clad people. He questioned why the IPCC, which had “seen much more than us”, ultimately wrote much less than many media outlets. He said a colleague was injured in the attack and, while accompanying the colleague to the accident and emergency department, saw that many of the injured were ordinary members of the public, including a pregnant woman wearing a white dress; “so it was not white-clad people attacking black-clad people”. He said public sentiment was heightened not only by what happened on the day, but also by the police’s and Government’s comments and attitudes towards the incident, which “even if they did not further deepen [the dissatisfaction], maintained everyone’s dissatisfaction with the 7.21 incident, because [the police] did not acknowledge it and even attempted to distort and rewrite the truth of the 7.21 incident”. The trial will continue next Monday (13th).
9 Feb 2023法庭線#6030
47-defendant case | Prosecution says Yu Wai-ming, Ho Kwai-lam and others advocated “lam chau”; Chow Ka-shing drafted “No Regrets Once the Ink Is Down” to prevent pan-democrats from tearing up the charter
控方指，當中有 6 人都有簽署《墨落無悔》聲明書，發起人之一鄒家成曾受訪解釋，起草聲明是要防止「泛民主派單方面去撕毀約章」。至於沒簽的兩名被告，林卓廷稱尊重戴耀廷決定，梁國雄則認為聲明僅重複 35+ 的初衷，「無需要簽」。
控方又指，部分被告除支持戴耀廷 35+ 計劃外，亦提倡「攬炒」，其中余慧明曾撰文指「比起追求假希望，不如尋求真『攬炒』」、何桂藍則認同在國際戰線「攬炒」對抗中共。另外，鄒家成被指提倡「香港民族主義」、柯耀林及林卓廷則認同「光復香港」等。
The prosecution said that six of the defendants had signed the “No Regrets Once the Ink Is Down” declaration. One of its initiators, Chow Ka-shing, explained in an interview that the declaration was drafted to prevent “the pan-democratic camp from unilaterally tearing up the charter”. Of the two defendants who did not sign it, Lam Cheuk-ting said he respected Benny Tai’s decision, while Leung Kwok-hung considered that the declaration merely repeated the original intention of 35+ and that there was “no need to sign”.
The prosecution also said that, in addition to supporting Tai’s 35+ plan, some defendants advocated “lam chau”. Yu Wai-ming once wrote that “rather than pursuing false hope, it is better to seek real ‘lam chau’”, while Ho Kwai-lam agreed that “lam chau” should be used on the international front to confront the Chinese Communist Party. Chow Ka-shing was also accused of advocating “Hong Kong nationalism”, while Ricky Yiu Lam Or and Lam Cheuk-ting agreed with “Liberate Hong Kong”, among other positions.
9 Feb 2023獨媒#6031
Ng Kin-wai posts that he was disciplined by Correctional Services; previously said in court, “I failed to subvert the state power of a totalitarian country”
初選47人案周一開審，原擬不認罪的伍健偉早前改為認罪，周一在庭上正式答辯，伍健偉說：「法官閣下，我顛覆極權國家政權未成功，我承認控罪 」他的專頁昨晚發帖，稱當晚因不明原因被懲教署作紀律處罰，書、報紙及收音機皆被沒收。
The trial of the 47-person primary election case began on Monday. Ng Kin-wai, who had originally intended to plead not guilty but changed his plea to guilty earlier, formally entered his plea in court on Monday. Ng said: “My Lord, I failed to subvert the state power of a totalitarian country; I admit the charge.” His page posted last night that he had been disciplined by the Correctional Services Department that evening for unknown reasons, and that his books, newspapers and radio had all been confiscated.
9 Feb 2023法庭線#6033
Light City case | Two men jailed for 60 to 63 months for “conspiracy to incite subversion of state power”; judge finds serious circumstances and grants six-month reduction for guilty pleas
「光城者」7 名成員被指擺街站提倡以武力推翻政權，7 人早前承認「串謀煽動顛覆政權」罪，屬首宗有未成年人因《國安法》定罪的案件。其中 5 名中學生去年被判入教導所，餘下兩名成年被告則押後至周四（9 日）判刑。《國安法》指定法官郭偉健判二人監禁 5 年至 5 年 3 個月。
Seven members of “Light City” were accused of setting up street booths to advocate overthrowing the regime by force. The seven earlier admitted the charge of “conspiracy to incite subversion of state power”, in the first case in which a minor was convicted under the National Security Law. Five secondary school students were sentenced to training centres last year, while sentencing for the remaining two adult defendants was adjourned until Thursday (9th). National Security Law-designated judge Kwok Wai-kin sentenced the two men to between five years and five years and three months in prison.
8 Feb 2023獨媒#6023
Glass at West Kowloon Court Damaged and Cracked; Police Deny BB Pellets Caused It as Ordnance Experts Investigate
正在審理民主派初選47人案的西九龍裁判法院，在今日下午約1時，警方接報法院外牆一幅玻璃幕牆破裂。現場一度有消息指地下遺下BB彈，在場警員向《獨媒》否認損壞由BB彈造成，但未知碎裂原因。探員一度使用金屬探測器搜尋地面，警方軍械鑒證科人員亦被派至現場調查。司法機構回覆指，西九龍法院大樓正審理的觸目案件，已加強保安維持法院的秩序。
At about 1pm today, police received a report that a section of the glass curtain wall on the exterior of West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts, where the case involving 47 people in the pro-democracy primary is being heard, had cracked. There were reports that a BB pellet had been left on the ground, but officers at the scene told HK01 that the damage was not caused by a BB pellet; the cause of the breakage was unknown. Detectives briefly used metal detectors to search the ground, while personnel from the police’s Forensic Firearms and Ordnance Division were also sent to the scene to investigate. The Judiciary said that, as high-profile cases are being heard at the West Kowloon Court Building, security had been stepped up to maintain order at the courts.
8 Feb 2023獨媒#6024
【47-person Primary Election Case】Ta Kung Pao Editorial Says Overnight Queueing “Black Violence Fellow Travellers” Deliberately Interfered with Justice
備受矚目的民主派初選47人案前日開審，連日出現過百懷疑排隊黨霸公眾席籌號，大部分人不願露面，疑似「蛇頭」有系統收集公眾席籌，一般認為有人試圖操控公眾席由誰而坐。《大公報》今日社評有不一樣看法，稱有人甚至漏夜排隊霸佔公眾席，美其名為「旁聽師」，實則是「一群有預謀有組織干預司法的黑暴同路人」。社評又稱，不排除有人為「旁聽師」先行探路，進行各種串聯和滋擾活動，有外部勢力撐腰。
The high-profile case involving 47 people over the pro-democracy primary election opened the day before yesterday. For several days, more than 100 suspected members of queueing gangs have allegedly commandeered public-gallery queue numbers, with most unwilling to appear in public. Suspected “snakeheads” appear to have systematically collected public-gallery queue numbers, leading to the general belief that someone was attempting to control who occupied the public gallery. A Ta Kung Pao editorial today offered a different view, saying that some people had even queued overnight to occupy the public gallery, describing themselves as “public-gallery observers” but in reality being “a group of black violence fellow travellers who deliberately and systematically interfered with justice”. The editorial also said it could not be ruled out that some people had scouted the way in advance for the “public-gallery observers” and conducted various networking and disruptive activities, with the backing of external forces.
8 Feb 2023ReNews#6025
Overseas former district councillor Michael Kwan Tai Mo implies online that ‘mole’ who filmed video was former councillor aide Xin (Dynagreen) Chen
47 人案正進行第三日聆訊，昨日庭上爆出偷拍片段，控方播出一段戴耀廷出席新界西選區協調會議的片段，片段大部分時間在枱底拍攝，但庭上未有交代片段來源；目前身處海外的前區議員巫堃泰在網上發文，暗示拍片的「內鬼」是一名前議員助理陳鑫，他曾任職輔警及民建聯區議員助理，後來轉投民主派陣營，被偷拍的會議陳鑫亦在場。
據悉，控方文件未有提及偷拍片段來源及拍片者身份。而陳鑫曾錄取口供，將作為控方證人出庭作供，部分證供內容與該次被偷拍會議有關。陳鑫社交媒體列出的電話號碼，未能接通。
The 47-person case entered its third day of hearings. The court heard yesterday that the prosecution had played a secretly filmed clip of Benny Tai attending a coordination meeting for the New Territories West constituency. Most of the clip was filmed from beneath a table, but the source of the footage was not explained in court. Former district councillor Michael Kwan Tai Mo, who is currently overseas, posted online implying that the “mole” who filmed it was former councillor aide Xin (Dynagreen) Chen. Xin (Dynagreen) Chen had previously worked as an auxiliary police officer and as an aide to a Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong district councillor, before later joining the pro-democracy camp. Xin (Dynagreen) Chen was also present at the meeting that was secretly filmed.
It is understood that the prosecution documents did not mention the source of the secretly filmed footage or the identity of the person who filmed it. Xin (Dynagreen) Chen previously gave a statement and will appear as a prosecution witness. Part of the testimony concerns the meeting that was secretly filmed. The telephone number listed on Xin (Dynagreen) Chen’s social media could not be connected.
8 Feb 2023法庭線#6028
Stand News alleged-incitement case | Prosecution cites IPCC report as clarifying facts; Chung questions its credibility and says it cannot settle the controversies
控方圍繞監警會就反修例運動的審視報告盤問，提及多宗社會事件，包括陳彥霖逝世引發的質疑、「8.11 尖沙咀爆眼少女」及「新屋嶺事件」等，稱以釐清事實。惟鍾沛權認為，警監會沒有調查權，報告出現與事實不符的描述。他又指，警員在公眾場合下，曾肆無忌憚做出暴力行為，何況是沒有鏡頭及紀錄的地方，認為「發生新屋嶺事件機會唔低」。
鍾沛權又提到，原負責報告的國際專家集體辭職，報告發表後，又有監警會前成員認為沒有公信力，指「班專家唔係你哋覺得係反政府、黃絲嘅人，係政府搵返嚟，佢哋都覺得份報告有問題，伍專員你想用報告為新屋嶺事件蓋棺定論，唔合理囉」。案件周五（10 日）續審。
The prosecution questioned Chung Pui-kuen about the Independent Police Complaints Council’s report on the anti-extradition bill movement, referring to several social incidents, including the questions surrounding the death of Chan Yin-lam, the “8.11 Tsim Sha Tsui eye-injury girl” incident and the “San Uk Ling incident”, saying this was intended to clarify the facts. Chung, however, said the IPCC had no investigative powers and that the report contained descriptions inconsistent with the facts. He also said that police officers had acted violently without restraint in public places, and that the likelihood of a San Uk Ling incident occurring in places without cameras or records was therefore “not low”.
Chung also said that the international experts originally responsible for the report had resigned collectively. After the report was published, former IPCC members also questioned its credibility. He said: “Those experts were not people you thought were anti-government or yellow-ribbon supporters. They were brought in by the government, and even they thought there were problems with the report. Commissioner Woo, you want to use the report to reach a definitive conclusion on the San Uk Ling incident; that is unreasonable.” The trial will continue on Friday (10th).
Translations are supplied by the source workbook. Consult the original reporting for context.
