In the case of 47 pro-democracy primary elections, 16 people denied the crime of conspiracy to subvert state power in violation of the “Hong Kong National Security Law”. The case entered the sixth day of trial yesterday. The first witness for the prosecution, the defendant Au Nuoxuan testified that “everything started with a dinner.” He said that at the dinner at the end of January 2020, he discussed the primary election with Dai Yaoting for the first time, including how to fight for the five major demands, win more than half of the seats in the Legislative Council, and become the A constitutional weapon of mass destruction.
Ten defendants, including Liu Weicong and Peng Zhuoqi, arrived at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court to appear. Six people, including Wu Zhengheng and He Guilan, were escorted to the court in a prison van, and the anti-terrorism special service team was on guard with guns. Au Nuoxuan appeared in court wearing a gray sweater and a dark blue top. As soon as he appeared in court, he nodded to the judge and the dock, and the defendants were calm.
The prosecution summoned the first witness, the defendant Au Nuoxuan who pleaded guilty, to testify. He pointed out that in December 2019, he noticed that Dai Yaoting published an article in the “Apple Daily” “Seizing half of the Legislative Council and an important step towards true universal suffrage”, which later attracted the attention of the democrats. At the end of January 2020, he was invited to attend a dinner with Dai Yaoting, Li Yongda, Li Zhuoren and Huang Haoming.
Integrating yellow camp media and civil society groups to participate in the platform
The district continued to testify that it was the first meeting with Dai Yaoting at the dinner. Dai said at the meeting that “more than half of the Legislative Council” vision, there are 3 key points, including the first is how to make another success following the district council victory in 2019. The Legislative Council wins more seats; the second is to think regarding how to fight for the “five major demands”; the third is whether there is room to use the won district council seats to establish a platform for citizen participation, including combining “Yellow Camp Media” and civil society Group participation.
The election of the Legislative Council adopts the proportional representation system. The district said that if the pan-democrats want to win more seats in the Legislative Council, a coordination mechanism is needed. During the dinner, it was discussed that the pro-establishment faction had a mature coordination mechanism early on, while the pan-democrats did not yet have one. In the past Sending too many lists to run for election results in wasted votes. Therefore, at the dinner, everyone mainly discussed how to make the political forces of the “yellow camp” such as traditional democrats, radical democrats, and natives coordinate with each other in the Legislative Council election, make good use of votes, and be elected smoothly.
When the judge asked whether the district had participated in the discussion at that time, the district said that he agreed with the “democratic majority” and the establishment of a coordination mechanism was a great progress, so he agreed to be the “planner” to hold the primary election. He added that he was planning to study in Japan at the time, and he stayed in Hong Kong for regarding half a year during the period. “I thought I had time to contribute to what I regarded as the ‘democracy movement’.”
The trial of the 47 pro-democracy primary elections is expected to take 90 days, and the case continues today.
Originally published on AM730 https://www.am730.com.hk/Local/Primary Election Prosecution Witness Au Nuoxuan Testified – Said the First Meeting with Dai Yaoting at Dinner -35-/361181?utm_source=yahoorss&utm_medium=referral
