The High Court on Monday (Nov 3) rejected the application by Tonyee Chow Hang-tung -- the vice chairman of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China -- to terminate the trial involving her and the organization over the subversion case.
The trial against the Alliance and its former chairmen Lee Cheuk-yan, Albert Ho Chun-yan and Chow -- who are charged with inciting subversion of state power -- is set to start in January. Ho has indicated his intention to plead guilty.
The charges alleged that the Alliance and the trio incited others to organize, plan, commit, or participate in acts aimed at subverting state power by illegal means between July 2020 and September 2021.
Chow claimed that the prosecution had failed to specify what illegal means were used by the accused to commit the offense, and argued that the prosecution's accusations were vague and lacked an objective assessment standard.
In court, prosecutor Ned Lai Ka-yee stated that the illegal means referred to "termination of leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and breach of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China" and any attempt aimed at ending the Chinese Communist Party's leadership is considered to be illegal means.
The designated national security law judges noted that the prosecution had clearly defined the allegations in their opening case, and thus rejected Chow's application.
