Hong Kong 47: dozens queue outside court ahead of sentencing of 45 opposition activists

Police have stepped up security since the weekend, ahead of final hearing in biggest prosecution under Beijing-decreed national security law

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Dozens of residents queue outside West Kowloon Court in Cheung Sha Wan ahead of the sentencing hearing for 45 opposition figures. Photo: Eugene Lee

Published: 1:16pm, 18 Nov 2024Updated: 10:14pm, 18 Nov 2024

A Hong Kong court is set to sentence 45 former opposition politicians and activists on Tuesday for conspiring to subvert state power through an unofficial legislative “primary” election four years ago, with dozens of residents queuing for public gallery seats days in advance as police secured the area.

Authorities have stepped up security around the West Kowloon Law Courts Building since the weekend, setting up wedge barriers and cordoning off pathways as they get ready for the final act of the city’s largest and longest-running prosecution under the Beijing-decreed national security law.

The 45 were among 47 opposition figures who were jointly charged with conspiracy to commit subversion over an attempt to win a controlling majority in the Legislative Council through the 2020 primary in the hopes of forcing the government to give in to protesters’ demands by indiscriminately voting down its budgets.

Thirty-one defendants, including former law professor Benny Tai Yiu-ting, the unofficial poll’s initiator, and three organisers, pleaded guilty to the charge before another 14 were convicted in May this year after a 118-day trial spanning 16 months.

A queue for seats in the public gallery snaked from a corner of the court building in Cheung Sha Wan as early as Saturday.

The Post found at least 26 people waiting in line on Monday morning, with dozens of empty seats believed to be marking spots. Some residents appeared to have waited outside overnight and had cardboard boxes filled with food and personal items.