National security law: dead person on trial? Hong Kong magistrate questions bid to prosecute disbanded vigil alliance
- Legal status of Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China is murky after it was ordered to be struck from Companies Registry, magistrate says
- The organisation, along with three of its top leaders, stands accused of inciting subversion under national security law
The organisation – along with its chairman, Lee Cheuk-yan, and vice-chairs Albert Ho Chun-yan and Chow Hang-tung – was charged last month with inciting subversion, punishable by up to 10 years in jail under the Beijing-imposed security law. The body could face a fine and compulsory closure if convicted after trial.
The defendants stand accused of inciting others to “organise, plan, commit or participate in acts by unlawful means with a view to subverting the state power”.
They were also alleged to have advocated “overthrowing or undermining the basic system of the People’s Republic of China”, and “overthrowing the body of central power of the People’s Republic of China”.
Speaking in West Kowloon Court on Thursday, prosecutor Karen Ng Ka-yuet suggested the alliance could be represented by the Official Receiver’s Office – which serves as a trustee and liquidator in insolvency cases – for the remaining criminal procedures. However, the office needed time to consider whether it was appropriate for it to take over the case, she noted.
Former alliance secretary Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong, who was appointed its liquidator even before the order to strike the group from the Companies Registry this week, said the group’s interests would be seriously undermined if a public body was appointed to act on its behalf, adding that the court must clarify whether the prosecution should be allowed to proceed.