Mitigation in 47-person case: New Territories West’s Leung Kwok-hung and Ricky Yiu Lam Or | All 10 complete submissions
47人案求情．新西梁國雄柯耀林｜10人全部完成陳詞 吳敏兒一方指日後脫離政治
In the case involving 47 democrats charged with “conspiracy to subvert state power”, eight New Territories West candidates who pleaded guilty, together with Leung Kwok-hung and Ricky Yiu Lam Or, who took part in the New Territories East primary election and were convicted after trial, completed mitigation submissions for seven defendants on Tuesday (see separate report). The remaining defendants, Ng Man-yee, Roy Hoi Pong Tam and Ricky Yiu Lam Or (on the 28th), also completed their mitigation submissions on Wednesday morning (key points are set out in the table in the main text). Ng Man-yee’s counsel said she only learned that she was suspected of breaking the law when she was arrested, and was shocked. She would leave politics in future. Her barrister said that if the starting point for sentencing in this case was set too high, there would be little room to impose sentences in more serious cases in future. Roy Hoi Pong Tam’s counsel said former Observatory director Lam Chiu-ying had written a mitigation letter for Tam, praising Tam’s efforts on environmental protection. Counsel also said Tam had no intention of engaging in politics in future, and might even stop advocating environmental issues. The barrister representing Ricky Yiu Lam Or said Ko belonged to the category of “other participants”; even if classified as an “active participant”, Ko would be at the lower end of that category. However, the judge questioned the defence’s claim that Ko’s level of participation was lower than that of the others.
47 名民主派被控「串謀顛覆國家政權」罪一案，參選新西的認罪 8 人偕同參與新東初選、經審訊後定罪的梁國雄、柯耀林，周二完成 7 人求情（見另稿），餘下的吳敏兒、譚凱邦及柯耀林（28 日）周三早上亦完成求情（重點見內文表）。 吳敏兒一方指，吳至被捕才知自己涉違法，對此感震驚，而她日後會脫離政治；其大狀指若本案量刑起點過高，他日嚴重案件難有判刑空間。譚凱邦一方稱，前天文台台長林超英為譚撰求情信，表揚譚為環保出力；又指譚未來無意接觸政治，甚至不再提倡環保議題。 柯耀林的代表大狀稱，認為柯屬於「其他參加」，即使被歸類成「積極參加者」，亦屬當中較低一方。不過法官質疑辯方指柯的參與程度比其他人低的說法。