HONG KONG • Dozens of Hong Kong democracy activists charged with subversion returned to court yesterday to complete a marathon bail hearing that was adjourned overnight when four defendants were rushed to hospital after hours of legal wrangling.
Police arrested 47 of the city's best-known activists on Sunday for "conspiracy to commit subversion" in the broadest use yet of a sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed on the city last year.
The defendants represent a broad cross-section of Hong Kong's opposition, from veteran former pro-democracy lawmakers and academics, to lawyers, social workers and youth activists.
Normally, such a bail hearing might take little more than a couple of hours. But the court struggled to deal with the sheer caseload as well as the legal vagaries of the broadly worded security law, which removes the presumption of bail for non-violent crimes.
The court sat on and off for some 15 hours on Monday as the prosecution called for the activists to be held in custody until the next hearing in three months' time while the defence tried to pursue bail.
An adjournment came only in the small hours of yesterday after one defendant, Clarisse Yeung, collapsed and was rushed to hospital. Three other defendants were also taken to hospital in ambulances.
At the time of the adjournment, less than half of the bail hearings for the 47 defendants had been heard. The defendants were then taken in handcuffs to a nearby detention centre for a few hours' sleep before returning once more to court yesterday morning.
Yeung released a statement on Facebook yesterday saying she fainted after receiving no food for 12 hours and was being treated in hospital for low blood pressure.
The three others who fell ill were also not in court yesterday.
Beijing is struggling to quash dissent in semi-autonomous Hong Kong after huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019.
The security law has been the spear tip of that crackdown, criminalising any act considered to be subversion, secession, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces.
Under the new law, defendants may be granted bail only if they can persuade a court that they no longer pose any kind of national security risk.
The alleged offence of the 47 people facing subversion charges was organising an unofficial primary election last summer to choose candidates for the city's legislature, in the hope that the pro-democracy bloc might take a majority and stymie government legislation.
Chinese and Hong Kong officials said this was an attempt to "overthrow" the city's government, and hence a threat to national security.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
