🧵
The confidential work of national security committee was again revealed in court.

The court was shown two “judgement and decision” by NSC during the legislative exercise of the #Article23 security law which in general said the bill and the amendments were necessary… …and the HK gov table them at the legislature. The prosecution confirmed that the documents were not available to the legislators and were revealed under special authorisation from the gov to assist the court in today’s proceeding.

🧵

What happened in Hong Kong around June 4, 2024, the 35th anniversary of the deadly, military crackdown on democracy protests in China in 1989. It’s the first Tiananmen anniversary in Hong Kong since the city enacted a second national security law. 🗓️ May 24: Ex pro-democracy district councillor Debby Chan disclosed on social media that police called her concerning where she would run on June 4 and warned her not to contravene national security law.

#BREAKING HK national security police announced 8 people they have applied arrest warrant from court over #NSL offences including : Kevin Yam @kevinkfyam accused of collusion

#BREAKING HK top court ruled in favour of journalist @Baochoy’s appeal , quashing all her conviction and fines as the court found “there was no reason that bona fide investigative journalism … should be excluded from the phrase ‘other traffic and transport related purpose’.” Choy was found guilty of “making false statement” 2 years ago for choosing the purpose of “other traffic and transport related matters” on the application form for car owner info from public registries controlled by the Transport Dept.

Tsui Hon-Kwong, veteran member of disbanded #HongKongAlliance - the group who hosted candlelight vigil for #June4 for three decades in HK, was taken away by police. He kept upholding his candle for #TiananmenMothers until police shut the door.

https://twitter.com/XinqiSu/status/1665329190726402048

A man whose phone torch was on was taken away by police after a search. An officer snatched his phone as a group of officers escorted him into the search zone.

#BREAKING League of Social Democrats leader #ChanPoying was taken away minutes after she showed up with a small candle for #TiananmenMothers and two yellow flowers. She resisted and tried to uphold what she had in hands.

https://twitter.com/xinqisu/status/1665265967071371265

Heard LSD’s Chan Po-Ying said “why must police station? I don’t mind here.” before police bundled her into a police car.

#JUSTNOW This woman was taken away by police after a search. Not immediately clear what triggered the search. She upheld a small card with the Chinese characters “conscience” during the search. She wore a yellow mask, a black tee, a yellow skirt, and yellow socks with “Hong Kong” “Going to a police station. Going to Wan Chai Police Station,” the woman shouted as police bundled her away.

#thread
On the protest-annulled Labour Day in HK, leftist party League of Social Democrats and the Women Workers Association would have small group petitions separately outside the government HQs to advocate for labour rights. Before the 1st group LSD arrived , some 20-30 officers were seen deployed nearby with at least two holding a video camera to record the petition.

Key takeaways from Xia Baolong speech

⁃The anti-extradition bill protests in 2019 is the HK version of colour revolution

⁃The protests were permanent pain and scar in HK history that shall never be forgotten - Absolutely not allow district councils to be manipulated by opposition

- HK seems peaceful now but the source of unrest has not been uprooted and eliminated

- Stay vigilant of anti China forces disguised with values such as democracy freedom and people’s livelihood

Beijing’s top man on HK Macau affairs Xia Baolong is set to deliver a speech to over 1,000 officials and guests in HKCEC for the national security education day ceremony. Multiple government information services officers at the scene said things are not in their hands… …and should reporters have questions such as how many journalists were successfully registered to cover the event, and what is in the brochure on each of the chair for the ceremony attendees , reporters should ask the host - National Security Committee- directly.

“We all agreed that the legislation of Article 23 (of the Basic Law) will happen very soon 好快會發生,” said HK Bar Council chairman Victor Dawes at a press briefing just now wrapping the 1st day of the council’s first visit to Beijing in 5 years. Dawes was talking about the close-door meeting the council’s delegation had this morning with Shen Chunyao, chairman of the NPCSC Legal Work Committee. Dawes said they had “candid communication” that touched upon a wide range of topics including the #BL23 legislation and #NSL.

#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 ...

#JUSTIN Two HK young men in their early 20 were just now sentenced to 5 years in jail for “conspiracy to incite subversion” as members of the now disbanded activist group “Returning Valiants”. 5 other minor defendants in the same case were sentenced to training center last year. The two young men are Choi Wing-kit, 21, and Chris Chan Yau-tsun, 26. Choi was also sentenced to 6 months in jail for "possession of offensive weapon" in a separate burglary case, among which 3 months will be running concurrently with the 5-year sentence.

#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 ...

#NOW a curious long queue is extending outside the West Kowloon Court for the #NSL trial with 47 democrats charged of “conspiracy to commit subversion”. Many of them queued overnight and refused to talk to reporters. Some said they don’t know what the case is about. A woman at the head of the queue said she wanted to see whether there would be a fair verdict and appeared to have no idea it’s the beginning of the trial. “They indeed committed a crime so I want to see whether the court would give them fair punishment.”

#thread
What's happening in HK on Monday? Border fully reopened, and the largest by-far #NSL trial kicking off after 2 yrs of pre-trial proceeding - when 34 / 47 defendants were kept behind bars, 31 / 47 chose to plead guilty, and at least 3 turned into prosecution witnesses. In this advancer w/ @JeromeTaylor we reviewed what this case is about, who are among those being charged, what are the key legal disputes, and how analysts observe / understand the trial.

sg.news.yahoo.com/hong-kongs-lar…

#NOW HK Chief Justice Andrew Cheung is delivering his speech for ceremonial opening of the legal year 2023. His speech will devote to “role of the judiciary” - “an inaccurate, incomplete or misconceived understanding of the role of the Judiciary is often the reason… …an inaccurate, incomplete or misconceived understanding of the role of the Judiciary is often the reason for misplaced or inappropriate criticisms of court decisions, or even personal attacks against our judges,” Cheung said.

#CONTINUE Chung Pui-kuen is on the witness stand for the 3rd day. Today defense counsel Audrey Eu began to ask Chung questions about how the prosecution described what happened in Hong Kong in 2019 and after #NSL came in force and the 17 "seditious" articles. For background this is an old thread about the prosecution's case against #StandNews and what "judicial notice" they wanted the court to take in order to determine the nature of the offence:

https://twitter.com/XinqiSu/status/1587405957239566336?s=20&t=sJ58YNJUgXUUV_kp7AHQhA

#CONTINUE #StandNews founding chief editor Chung Pui-kuen began this morning his second day on witness stand. The first QA session with his defense counsel lasted 1.5 hours and ended when Chung choked in tears as he spoked about the last day of #AppleDaily in June 2021. * Chung told the court that after #NSL came in force, he decided to stop publishing any commentary that advocated for independence and separation of any part of China, however, he did not set such a red line for #StandNews reporting.

#DEVELOPING Chung Pui-kuen, founding chief editor of #StandNews began to take the witness stand this morning as defense started their case.

A few points from Chung's account: * The 3 founders of #StandNews chose to surrender their rights to benefits and to sell the company shares to a trust fund in order to minimize impacts on the news company in case any of them were under threats or pressure - a lesson learned from the shuttering of House News.

A #thread on what led to HK leader's propose of first interpretation of #NSL, what questions have arisen from his proposal, and what may be at stake as the matter continues to unfold.

It started with #JimmyLai hoping to engage veteran British lawyer Tim Owen KC for #NSL trial. Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-shuttered #AppleDaily, is charged of 2 counts of "conspiracy to collude with foreign forces" under the #NSL and 1 count of "conspiracy to publish seditious publication" under HK's Crimes Ordinance. The former can lead to life in jail.