More than 100 people queued for seats in the court’s public gallery with dozens of police on standby and a bomb disposal vehicle deployed.
HONG KONG – The trial of 16 Hong Kong democracy activists charged under a national security law imposed by Beijing began on Monday, February 6, with security tight for a case that some observers say will be a test of the city’s judicial independence.
Prosecutors have described the primary election – held to select the strongest candidates to contest an election for the city’s assembly, the Legislative Council , as a “vicious plot” to subvert the city government and to wreak “mutual destruction” on it by taking control of the city parliament. Those who have pleaded not guilty include former journalist Gwyneth Ho, activist Owen Chow and labor unionist Winnie Yu.
China denies interfering with the city’s way of life but some Hong Kong residents over the years criticized what they saw as the erosion of freedoms by an increasingly assertive Beijing.
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