Court to hear mitigation in HK Alliance case
AM730 · 3 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
The West Kowloon court is scheduled to hear mitigation from all defendants today in the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China case after convictions were returned last week. The dissolved alliance, former chairperson Lee Cheuk-yan and former vice-chairperson Chow Hang-tung were convicted after trial, while former vice-chairperson Albert Ho had pleaded guilty before the trial began.
Key Points
- The hearing is set to begin at 10am and is expected to take one day, covering mitigation for all defendants in the case.
- The case was originally in the High Court but has been moved to West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts for the hearing.
- Three High Court judges designated for national security cases — Alex Lee Wan-tang, Johnny Chan Jong-herng and Anthea Pang Po-kam — are hearing the case.
- Outside the court building, security was tightened with multiple police vehicles, many officers on guard and police dogs deployed nearby.
- Under the National Security Law, inciting subversion carries two sentencing bands: five to 10 years for serious circumstances, or up to five years for lesser cases.
Why It Matters
The mitigation hearing is the next step before sentencing in one of Hong Kong's closely watched national security prosecutions involving a now-dissolved civic group. For local readers, the court's eventual sentencing approach will show how the statutory distinction between serious and lesser circumstances is applied in practice.