Hong Kong 47: ex-Democratic Party chair seeks leniency over scheme to subvert government

Former lawmaker Wu Chi-wai asks for shorter sentence for his role in 2020 unofficial election to oust chief executive

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Former lawmaker Wu Chi-wai. A former transport minister, ex-transport undersecretary and former labour chief have written mitigation letters on his behalf. Photo: May Tse

Published: 3:21pm, 8 Jul 2024Updated: 5:43pm, 8 Jul 2024

A former chairman of Hong Kong’s largest opposition party has pleaded for leniency in a subversion case, arguing the likelihood he could have convinced fellow party members to endorse his plan to undermine the government was “extremely low”.

Former lawmaker Wu Chi-wai, along with ex-district councillor Sze Tak-loy and activist Tam Tak-chi, asked for shorter sentences on Monday for their roles in an unofficial legislative primary election in 2020. The poll was an integral part of a scheme by 45 opposition figures to compel the chief executive to step down.

Wu’s counsel, Breanne Kwok Tsz-fung, told three High Court judges presiding at West Kowloon Court that the former Democratic Party chairman deserved no more than 10 years’ imprisonment for being an “active participant” as categorised by the three-tiered sentencing framework of the Beijing-decreed national security law.

Kwok said her client could not have realistically paralysed the government by casting an indiscriminate vote against the administration’s annual budget in the Legislative Council given the “obstacles” he would have faced within his party.

She explained Wu’s voting preferences were subject to challenges by his party colleagues, and if a majority refused to endorse his decisions, he would have been forced to resign in order to vote as he pleased.

Kwok stressed Wu had never made any promises to block the financial blueprints, as that would be “an outright lie to the public”.