National security law: Hong Kong activist set to plead guilty to secession, money-laundering charges
- Tony Chung, 19, indicates he will plead guilty to secession, money-laundering charges following plea bargain with prosecutors
- Chung would be the third person to admit national security charges since Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong
Acting assistant director of public prosecutions Ivan Cheung Cheuk-kan on Tuesday revealed that an agreement had been reached with Tony Chung Hon-lam, 19, on two of the four charges he was currently facing.
Chung’s defence counsel Edwin Choy Wai-bond SC confirmed to the District Court that such a deal had been struck. But the two parties would still have to finalise and agree on details of the factual matrix underpinning the charges.
Chung, founder of the now-defunct Studentlocalism group, is expected to formally enter his plea on Wednesday morning before District Judge Stanley Chan Kwong-chi, who has been designated to handle national security law cases.
If those pleas were entered, Chung would be the third person to plead guilty to national security law charges since it was enacted on June 30 last year to punish acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
Activist Andy Li Yu-hin, 30, and his co-defendant, paralegal Chan Tsz-wah, 29, were the first to plead guilty, admitting collusion with foreign forces. They are awaiting sentence scheduled for next year.
Prosecutors alleged that Chung sought to separate Hong Kong from mainland China, or to alter the city’s legal status unlawfully, between July 1 and October 27 last year.
Chung was also accused of dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence, involving more than HK$133,000 (US$17,090) in a PayPal account.
He still faces another count of money laundering under the Theft Ordinance, involving more than HK$582,000 in an HSBC account.
But that second count, along with another charge of conspiracy to publish seditious publications, is expected to be left on court file, meaning it cannot be pursued without permission from the District Court or the Court of Appeal, if the guilty pleas are entered.
Secession is punishable by life imprisonment while money laundering carries a maximum sentence of 14 years. But prison terms are capped at seven years when the case is heard at the District Court.
