Hong Kong protests: ex-lawmaker Au Nok-hin to plead guilty to illegal assembly charges, faces five years in jail

Former lawmaker Au Nok-hin, one of 15 opposition figures prosecuted over last year’s anti-government protests in Hong Kong, faces up to five years in jail after his lawyers told a court he would plead guilty to organising and taking part in an unauthorised assembly during the social unrest.

Lawyers for 10 of the other defendants, including media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and prominent barrister Martin Lee Chu-ming, said on Thursday their clients would plead not guilty, and intended to challenge the legality of their prosecution at the trial.

The remaining four – legislator Leung Yiu-chung, former lawmaker “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung, and activists Avery Ng Man-yuen and Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong – would need further time to decide whether to plead guilty to their charges as they were applying for legal aid, District Judge Justin Ko King-sau was told.

The 15 were asked in court for the first time to indicate whether they would plead guilty to the 61 charges they faced over four banned rallies last year, before they formally entered a plea.

They each face two to eight counts stemming from demonstrations which took place on August 18, August 31, October 1 and October 20.

The case has been moved to the District Court, where the defendants face up to five years in jail if convicted, but the first pretrial hearing on Thursday took place at the more spacious West Kowloon Court.