Hong Kong 47: opposition camp held unofficial primary to wield ‘weapon of mass destruction’ in Legco, organiser tells court
- Appearing as prosecution witness, former Democratic Party lawmaker Au Nok-hin is first defendant in city’s biggest national security case to testify against peers
- He tells court co-organiser of poll Benny Tai expanded on ideas to meet protesters’ five demands through greater Legco representation over meal with veteran pro-democracy leaders in 2020
Hong Kong’s opposition camp held an unofficial primary election in 2020 to try and turn the legislature into a “weapon of mass destruction” aimed at the government, an organiser of the vote who appeared as a prosecution witness told a court on Monday.
Ex-politician Au Nok-hin began giving evidence at the city’s biggest national security trial over what prosecutors described as a well-structured conspiracy to subvert state power by 47 opposition figures.
Au told West Kowloon Court the idea of securing a majority in the Legislative Council was first floated in December 2019 by Benny Tai Yiu-ting, then an associate law professor, in a newspaper article and the proposal was discussed over a meal with other veteran pro-democracy leaders the following month.
“He said there was a need to respond to the anti-extradition movement and fight for the five demands. If [we] could win more than half of the seats in Legco, this could be a constitutional weapon of mass destruction,” Au told the court. A now-scrapped extradition bill would have allowed for the transfer of fugitives to jurisdictions with which the city has no such agreement, including mainland China.
The former Democratic Party lawmaker was the first of four defendants in the high-profile case to testify against 16 of their peers who are contesting the charge. The 31 others have pleaded guilty or indicated they would admit liability.
Prosecutors have accused the 47 of seeking to secure a majority in Legco and paralyse the government by blocking all budgets and bills.
They said the conspirators had intended to force then city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to accede to the five demands raised by anti-government protests during the 2019 unrest, including an independent inquiry into alleged police brutality and genuine universal suffrage.
