Citizens' Radio activists in court

The trial of four Citizens’ Radio activists for unlicensed broadcasting opened in Eastern Court in Sai Wan Ho on Monday.

The four – Tsang Kin-shing, Lo Hum-chau, Ko Wah-bing and Poon Tat-keung – were charged with setting up unlicensed telecommunications and transmitting messages in broadcasts between 2007 and 2011, including street forums in the pedestrian zone of Sai Yeung Choi Street South in Mong Kok.

A fifth activist, Yang Kuang, who was charged with the four did not appear in court on Monday, but the court decided to go ahead with the hearing. Tsang testified that he did not know where Yang was.

The defendants have previously all pleaded not guilty.

Three officers testified on Monday morning about their duties monitoring the street broadcasts between 20 April 2007 and 10 January 2008, with one saying he was able to listen to the broadcasts through the radio function of his mobile phone.

The prosecutor will call 43 witnesses, including officers from the Office of the Telecommunications Authority.

The trial is expected to last for 10 days.