In Hong Kong, almost all the political figures who were in the camp of the pro-democracy opposition find themselves in court again Monday, November 29. After nearly ten months in preventive detention under the new national security law, they are accused of ” conspiracy to subversion “For having organized and participated in primaries in July 2020. The justice of the territory could however have difficulty in judging” the 47 “.
With our correspondent in Hong Kong, Florence de Changy
Nicknamed ” the 47 “, these men and women who find themselves in the box of the accused in West Kowloon are all known and respected figures in the public and political life of Hong Kong, some for decades.
In pre-trial detention since February, 14 of them have since been released on bail.
They are all accused of ” conspiracy to subversion », A crime punishable by imprisonment for life, for having organized or participated in primary, which took place in July 2020, in perfect order. Some 600,000 Hong Kong citizens took part.
The purpose of this vote was, as in any primary, tooptimize the results of the pro-democracy camp in the legislative elections which were to take place two months later, and which were postponed to December 2021.
But one wonders today if, and how, a court in Hong Kong will he be able to assimilate the organization of primaries to a crime of ” conspiracy to subversion “. Even with, at its disposal, the new extraordinarily powerful tool that is the new national security law.
► Read also : Hong Kong: national security law used retroactively by police