National security law: 47 Hong Kong opposition figures charged with conspiring to subvert state power, after arrests over roles in bloc’s primary

Suspects, aged 23 to 64, including scholar Benny Tai, denied bail and will appear in court on Monday

The primary last July was aimed at narrowing the field of candidates deemed most likely to help the bloc score their first-ever majority in the legislature

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Pan-democrats hold a press briefing last month following the mass arrests. Photo: May Tse

Published: 3:20pm, 28 Feb 2021Updated: 5:00pm, 1 Mar 2021

Police have charged 47 former opposition lawmakers and activists with conspiring to subvert state power under Hong Kong’s national security law over their roles in an unofficial primary run-off election that authorities linked to a plot to overthrow the government.

Sunday’s charges marked one of the heaviest setbacks suffered by the opposition camp since the 1997 handover, with the Democratic Party and the Civic Party’s leaders and veterans among those detained.

Those charged, aged 23 to 64, were denied bail by police and will appear at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Monday. Legal academic Benny Tai Yiu-ting, the architect of the primaries, is among this group.

Also charged were Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai, Civic Party leader Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, its vice-chairman Jeremy Tam Man-ho, and a group of young district councillors such as Lester Shum and Fergus Leung Fong-wai, as well as activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung and People Power’s Tam Tak-chi who are currently in jail.

Scholar and architect of the opposition’s primary Benny Tai. Photo: Sam Tsang

The primary, which drew a turnout of more than 600,000 last July, was aimed at narrowing the field of candidates deemed most likely to help the bloc score their first-ever majority in the legislature, a strategy also known as “35-plus”.

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National security law: 47 Hong Kong opposition figures charged with conspiring to subvert state power, after arrests over roles in bloc’s primary

Suspects, aged 23 to 64, including scholar Benny Tai, denied bail and will appear in court on Monday The primary last July was aimed at narrowing the field of candidates deemed most likely to help the bloc score their first-ever majority in the legislature

Suspects, aged 23 to 64, including scholar Benny Tai, denied bail and will appear in court on Monday

The primary last July was aimed at narrowing the field of candidates deemed most likely to help the bloc score their first-ever majority in the legislature