League of Social Democrats street stalls prosecuted by summons; Chan Po-ying and three others plead not guilty, trial set for April; Yu Wai-pan case awaits prosecution and defence submissions
社民連街站遭票控 陳寶瑩等4人不認罪、4月開審 余煒彬涉另案待控辯呈交陳詞
League of Social Democrats chair Chan Po-ying, vice-chair Dickson Chau and Yu Wai-pan, among four people, were prosecuted by summons over alleged unlicensed fundraising and displaying posters or banners without permission at street stalls in Causeway Bay and Wan Chai between April and May 2023. All four pleaded not guilty. Their case was dealt with at a pre-trial review at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Friday (7th). Yu is also charged with displaying posters without permission in Causeway Bay, and a pre-trial review for that case was held on the same day. For the case involving the four defendants, the prosecution said police had filmed the street-stall activities on each occasion, so there would be video evidence. The footage would be played at trial, and the relevant police officers would be called to testify. An inspector would also be called as a QR-code expert witness to explain the operation of QR codes and related matters. The defendants said they might rely on human rights law in their submissions. Magistrate Minnie Lai Man Wat ordered a one-day trial on 29 April, with closing submissions on 30 April. In the separate case involving Yu Wai-pan, the defendant requested disclosure of documents including the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department’s enforcement guidelines. The prosecution refused, citing public interest immunity (PII) (a Law 101 article). The magistrate ultimately ordered both sides to file written submissions and adjourned the case to 5 August for mention.
社民連主席陳寶瑩、副主席周嘉發和余煒彬等 4 人，被票控 2023 年 4 至 5 月在銅鑼灣及灣仔街站「無牌籌款」及「未經准許展示招貼或海報」。4 人不認罪，周五（7 日）在東區裁判法院處理審前覆核。余另涉在銅鑼灣未經准許展示海報，該案同日亦作審前覆核。 就 4 人案件，控方稱警方每次均有拍攝街站情況，故有錄影證供，屆時審訊時會播放片段，並傳召相關警員作供；另會傳召一名督察，作為二維碼專家證人作供，講解二維碼操作等。被告均稱陳詞時或會依賴人權法。裁判官屈麗雯下令，本案於 4 月 29 日作一天審訊，4 月 30 日結案陳詞。 至於余煒彬所涉的另案，他要求控方披露食環署的執法指引等文件，指控方以「公眾利益豁免權」（PII）（ 法律 101 文章）為由拒絕。官終下令雙方呈交書面陳詞，另保留在 8 月 5 日提訊。