Laughter in court as magistrate asks Tonyee Chow if she has internet in prison

Laughter erupted in court when a magistrate asked activist Tonyee Chow Hang-tung, vice-chair of the disbanded alliance which organized the June 4 vigil, if she has internet access in prison. 

Chow appeared before magistrate Amy Chan Wai-mun in West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts on Tuesday. She pleaded not guilty to inciting others between May and June this year to take part in an unauthorized June 4 vigil. 

The trial will continue tomorrow as she and the prosecution have yet to agree on the notice to admit facts – a document where a party invites another to admit specific facts or parts of a case.

Chow said she has no objection to that she published articles on Facebook and Twitter, but she would argue that whether the intention of those articles was to incite others to take part in the unauthorized vigil. 

She would also argue that the police's decision to ban the vigil was in violation of the Basic Law, and the charge she faced was in breach of her freedom of speech. 

The prosecution said they will make some amendments to documents and summon two officers as the trial proceeds. 

Magistrate Chan told Chow that no one would know what she was thinking at that time unless people cut open her brain. She cited the Civic Square case of Joshua Wong Chi-fung and other activists back in 2014, which evolved into the Umbrella Movement, saying that court is never the place for political dispute. 

Chan also asked if Chow, who wants more time to prepare her statement, has legal books in prison. She also asked if she can access the internet, causing those in court to burst into laughter.

Chow answered that she doesn't have internet access, and she has to rely on her own legal knowledge and assistance offered by her friends. 

The court will hear the case again tomorrow while the court has ordered the prosecution to submit relevant documents to Chow by today.