Thread by @XinqiSu

#Thread
Who are in the curious long queue outside the West Kowloon Court trying to take up public seats for the largest #NSL trial with 47 pro-dem politicians and activists charged of "conspiracy to commit subversion" ?

Pro-Beijing Ta Kung Pao had some serious thoughts.

In its signature column today, Ta Kung Pao ran a piece entitled "Resolutely stop the ill trend of 'court attending masters' troubling courts" accusing public members who attended trials in relation to the 2019 protests "fellows of the black-clad riots". But ...

...the opening example of this commentary is "As the Primary Election case opened trial in the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts, there are large number of people queuing for a seats in the trial's public gallery every early morning - some even stood in line overnight".

Another article in Ta Kung Pao's op-ed page accused "anti-China trouble rousing forces in Hong Kong...turned to the courts and used it as a new stage for their political performance, hence emerged the new roles of 'court attending masters' 'prison truck farewell-ing masters'."

However one of the men in queue told @thewitnesshk yesterday that they went to the court "on order", and he was paid HK$1,500 per day to recruit queuers, and his queuers could each get HK$1,000 per day.

https://twitter.com/thewitnesshk/status/1622939810079047680?s=20&t=UttRnjh91kIcpqK54G857g

It has also been reported that the queuers had coordinating chat groups and many told reporters they had no idea what the trial is about , or simply refused to talk.

hongkongfp.com/2023/02/06/hon…

The authorities have been vigilant about democracy supporters' attendance in court for quite a long time. Last April, 6 people were arrested for clapping in court when @zouxingtong was convicted, and 2 were later jailed for "sedition".

https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1511614657970450434?s=20&t=-ihxcUzPcCXfMAbo4TUA0g

Under article 41 of the #NSL, closed-door trials can take place but it has not been applied to any #NSL trial so far.

Designated police force, designated prosecutors, designated judges, no-bail presumption, exclusion of juries...all these have been implemented in national security trials in Hong Kong. Maintaining an open courts seems to the last, largely intact element...

...to sustain public confidence in some level of open, fair justice. It's also the only place where defendants who have been kept in jail can be seen by the public - supporting them or not - and openly defend themselves. Can it remain open, to what extent and for how long?