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A Hong Kong court on Dec 21 rejected a fresh bail application for pro-democracy activist and lawyer Chow Hang-tung, whose subversion trial under a China-imposed national security law is expected to open in late 2024.
In making the latest in a series of so far unsuccessful bail applications, Chow’s lawyer, Mr Cheung Yiu-leung, noted Chow had already served more than two years in detention after being arrested on suspicion of “incitement for subversion” over her ties to a group that organised an annual June 4 vigil.
High Court judge Andrew Chan, however, said he could not grant bail because Chow might carry out acts that endangered national security.
A tentative trial date was provided for Chow’s case in the second half of 2024 at the West Kowloon court, Chan said.
A case-management hearing was also tentatively expected to be held on Feb 15, 2024, he added.
Chow, 38, a human-rights lawyer, was the vice-chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, a now-disbanded pro-democracy group.
Despite being jailed, she has continued to defy Beijing’s campaign to subjugate the city.
Chow is charged with “incitement to subversion”, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years of imprisonment, alongside two former Alliance leaders Albert Ho and Lee Cheuk-yan under the national security law.
Chow has been detained since September 2021 at a maximum security women’s prison.
Hong Kong laws usually restrict reporting of full bail application proceedings to only key details, but Justice Chan lifted these restrictions over objections from the prosecution.
“I don’t see that anything you said, or I said, cannot be published. The press are free to publish whatever,” Mr Chan said.
Chow was recently put in solitary confinement for 18 days for possessing “too many letters” from her supporters, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The Hong Kong prison authorities said they would not comment on individual cases.
Chow has already finished two sentences for unauthorised assembly about the banned Tiananmen vigils in 2020 and 2021.
Source: Reuters
香港法院拒絕為涉國家安全法審判的民主人士和活動人士提供救助
12 月 21 日，香港一家法院駁回了民主活動人士兼律師週恆東的新保釋申請，根據中國實施的國家安全法，週恆東的顛覆罪審判預計將於 2024 年底開始。
週的律師張耀良在提出一系列迄今為止不成功的保釋申請中的最新一次時指出，週因涉嫌「煽動顛覆國家政權」而被捕，已被拘留兩年多。組織每年6 月4 日守夜活動的團體。
然而，高等法院法官陳安德魯表示，他不能批准保釋，因為周可能會做出危害國家安全的行為。
陳說，西九龍法院暫定於 2024 年下半年審理週的案件。
他補充說，案件管理聽證會暫定於 2024 年 2 月 15 日舉行。
38歲的周先生是一名人權律師，曾任香港支持中國愛國民主運動聯盟的副主席，該聯盟現已解散。
儘管被監禁，她仍繼續反抗北京征服這座城市的運動。
根據國家安全法，周先生被控“煽動顛覆罪”，與兩名前聯盟領導人何俊仁和李卓人一起被判處最高10年監禁。
自 2021 年 9 月以來，週一直被關押在一所高度戒備的女子監獄中。
香港法律通常限製完整保釋申請程序的報告，僅報告關鍵細節，但陳法官因檢方的反對而取消了這些限制。
「我不認為你所說的或我所說的任何內容不能發表。 媒體可以自由地發表任何內容，」陳先生說。
據一位知情人士透露，週最近因持有「太多支持者的信件」而被單獨監禁 18 天。
香港監獄當局表示不會對個案發表評論。
周先生已因 2020 年和 2021 年被禁止的天安門守夜活動而因未經授權集會而服刑兩次。
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