Government body to represent Hong Kong’s Tiananmen vigil group in coming national security trial
- Official receiver appoints barrister Priscilia Lam to represent Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China in pretrial hearing
- Defendants unable to appear at court after all of city’s prisons and correctional institutions placed under lockdown to conduct Covid-19 tests
A group behind Hong Kong’s annual vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown will be represented by a government body in a coming subversion trial under the national security law.
A barrister appointed by the official receiver, which serves as a trustee and liquidator in insolvency cases, appeared at West Kowloon Court as the representative of the now-dissolved Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China in an open pretrial hearing on Thursday, which was subject to reporting restrictions.
The case had been put on hold to resolve questions surrounding the legality of prosecuting the now-disbanded alliance, after the justice department insisted on pursuing a charge of inciting subversion against the group and three of its former executives.
The alliance was represented on Thursday by barrister Priscilia Lam Tsz-ying, who previously prosecuted media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying for criminal intimidation in a 2017 case and has also acted for the justice department in several protest-related trials.
She said outside court that the official receiver would endeavour to ensure a fair trial for the alliance.
Lee Cheuk-yan, Albert Ho Chun-yan and Chow Hang-tung – former leaders of the now-defunct alliance – had warned that they were facing a miscarriage of justice, adding that they feared the government body would act contrary to the alliance’s interests.