3 opposition activists to plead guilty to charges arising from unauthorised rally on July 1, 2020
- District councillor Tsang Kin-shing, former councillor Andy Chui and activist Tang Sai-lai will admit criminal liability, enter formal plea in October
- Four other opposition figures earlier reveal intention to plead guilty to charges they are facing
Prosecutors have laid 17 charges against eight opposition activists, including four former legislators, over their involvement in the first large-scale protest after the Beijing-imposed legislation took effect on June 30 last year.
In a pretrial hearing at the District Court on Tuesday, district councillor Tsang Kin-shing, 65, and former councillor Andy Chui Chi-kin, 54, told the presiding judge they would each admit a count of incitement to knowingly taking part in an unauthorised assembly.
Chui and activist Tang Sai-lai, 59, would plead guilty to holding or organising an unauthorised assembly in exchange for prosecutors dropping a count of knowingly taking part in an unauthorised assembly, the court heard.
District councillor Lancelot Chan Wing-tai, 57, asked for more time to consider whether to admit a count of incitement.
First person jailed under national security law to appeal 9-year jail term
Last month, former legislators Eddie Chu Hoi-dick, 43, Wu Chi-wai, 58, “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung, 65, and protest organiser Figo Chan Ho-wun, 25, told the court they would plead guilty to the charges they were facing.
The prosecution accused Wu, Figo Chan and the three former or incumbent district councillors of issuing a public appeal on June 30, urging people to take part in the banned protest the following day.
The three former legislators, Chui and Figo Chan allegedly staged and took part in the protest, alongside some 100 demonstrators, near Hennessy Road and Tonnochy Road in Wan Chai on July 1.
Lancelot Chan will return to court on September 21 to indicate his plea, with the hearing for the remaining seven slated for October 7.