Owen Chow Ka-shing, one of the 47 pro-democracy activists charged with conspiracy to commit subversion under the national security law, arrives at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts building, in Hong Kong, China November 29, 2021. REUTERS/Lam Yik/File photo Acquire Licensing Rights
HONG KONG, Nov 29 (Reuters) – (This story has been refiled to add the dropped word ‘were’ in paragraph 1)
A landmark national security trial for 16 Hong Kong democracy activists entered its final stretch on Wednesday, with a verdict expected in early 2024, nearly two years after they were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion.
On the first day of closing submissions, one of the handpicked national security judges, Andrew Chan, said a verdict would “tentatively” come in three to four months, with 10 days set aside for closing submissions.
This is the first official indication of a potential end point for the legal proceedings, which have already stretched over 100 days in court since the trial began on Feb. 6.
The legal saga began with police raids on more than 50 of the city’s leading democrats in early 2021 under a sweeping China-imposed national security law, which has been criticised as a tool of…
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