Thread by @XinqiSu

#NOW Au Nok-hin, first of the 4 accomplice witnesses in the #NSL trial charging 47 pro-dem activists of "conspiracy to commit subversion" over an unofficial primary of the camp, began to take the prosecution's witness stand this afternoon as judges decided to...

...have reading-out of the admitted facts to give way for the calling of witnesses.

Although the #NSL prosecutor Anthony Chau asked Au to tell how the 35+ project began from "early 2020", Au said "the story began from December 2019", when #BennyTai ...

...published an article outlining his vision for the pro-dem camp winning majority in LegCo on the now-shuttered #AppleDaily.

Au also revealed to court that he met Tai to discuss the idea for the first time at a meal gathering in "late January 2020"...

...with a number of other democracy camp leaders. Au named #LeeWingTat #LeeCheukYan and #RaphaelWongHoMing. Au said Tai raised 3 points at the gathering:

1) After the pro-dem camp's landslide victory in the District Council election in 2019, how can they win more seats in LegCo

2) The anti-extradition bill movement was then going on and the pro-dem camp needed to think about how to realise the #FiveDemands raised amid the movement

3) How to establish a mechanism for public participation including using the district council seats won by the pro-dem

Au told the court that, unlike the pro-establishment camp who had managed to develop a coordination system for their election candidates, the pro-democracy camp had not been able to do the same until 2020, and that led to the phenomenon that pro-dem camps had too many...

...teams running for the LegCo's geographical constituencies election - where proportional representation was followed - so even the camp in general won more votes than the pro-establishment camp, they could not secure an according number of seats in the legislature.

Au said the coordination system was meant to make members across the political spectrum "in the yellow camp", "be them traditional pro-democracy parties, radical pro-democracy parties or localists" "as long as they intended to run for the LegCo, they could coordinate...

...make good use of the votes and get elected proportionately."

As for the platform for "public participation", Au said the idea was to engage "media outlets of the yellow camp and civil society groups".

In the second part of evidence-in-chief given this afternoon, Au told the court that #BennyTai raised "a general framework" "direction" about who the pro-dem camp could win LegCo majority through coordination in geographical constituencies elections.

Au said Tai at the meal gathering did not set a goal of specific numbers of seats to be won by the pro-dem candidates in each geographical constituencies (GC), but "imagined" that the camp could win "6-6-4-4-3" seats in the 5 GCs.

Au said he promised Tai that he would take part in the pro-dem primary election as an orgnaiser because at the time he had a few months before he left for Japan for studying overseas, and he believed it was "a big step forward" for the camp if Tai's idea could come true.

As for the 2nd point about responding to the 2019 protests' #FiveDemands after the pro-dem won majority in the legislature, Au said Tai mentioned the Basic Law and the majority's power could be "a constitutional weapon of mass destruction".

Au said Tai suggested that the pro-dem camp, if they won LegCo majority, could use various powers vested in laws to pursue the #FiveDemands including vetoing government budget, setting up independent inquiry committee, and veto government bills.

During Au's evidence-in-chief, #NSL judge Alex Lee reminded Au to give his account "chronologically" , "please don't jump" as Au tried to tell more about when Tai announced his goal for the pro-dem camp to get "6-6-4-4-3" seats in the GC to the public.

Judge Lee also reminded Au said he should be telling what was exactly said at the meal gathering and by whom instead of his assumption of what was on the participants' mind. When Andrew Chan, another #NSL judge on the bench, asked Au...

...what Au said at the meal gathering, Au said he could not recall specifically what he said but in general he agreed with Tai.

Au will continue to take the stand as the trial is set to continue at 10am tmr.

9 PG defendants who could attend the trial in the main courtroom last week, were today separated and transferred to 2 extension courtrooms so they could only watch the trial via broadcast.