A verdict is finally looming in Hong Kong’s longest running and largest national security trial of 47 pro-democracy legislators and political activists, with the defendants having together logged 39,000 days or some 108 years on remand even before the sentencing phase of the trial begins.
The group was first arrested by the territory’s national security police in a pre-dawn crackdown on January 6, 2021, for allegedly conspiring to commit “subversion” by organising an unofficial primary election to choose pro-democracy candidates in July 2020. The defendants include the alleged organisers as well as would-be candidates who hoped to win the primary and contest then semi-democratic legislative council elections, which were eventually cancelled, with prosecutors claiming it was an attempt to “overthrow” the government.
