Hong Kong judiciary reveals bail decision reasons in cases linked to city’s largest national security law crackdown
- Former opposition lawmaker had bail revoked after prosecution cited alleged involvement in letter written before legislation took effect
- Five sets of judgment from High Court Judge Esther Toh released on Friday
The judiciary on Friday released five sets of judgment where High Court Judge Esther Toh Lye-ping explained her decision last month to revoke bail previously granted to former Civic Party legislator Kwok Ka-ki and opposition district councillor Sam Cheung Ho-sum, while releasing three other councillors.
The five were among 11 defendants brought before Toh last month as the prosecution sought to overturn a lower court’s decision to release them pending trial on a single charge of conspiracy to commit subversion.
Prosecutors have charged a total of 47 politicians and activists over an unofficial primary election last summer, calling it “a massive and well-organised scheme” to paralyse the government and topple the city’s leader, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, by winning a controlling majority in the Legislative Council.
The most serious part of the offence, they argued, was legal scholar Benny Tai Yiu-ting’s “destructive manifesto in 10 steps to ‘mutual destruction’”, as it aimed to undermine the government by “manipulating the electoral system”.