Agence France-Presse reported today (8th) that the Attorney General notified the defense team at the beginning of February that, on the grounds of the safety of the jurors and their families, the case was filed without a jury, and the case was tried by three designated judges. Agence France-Presse asked the Department of Justice and the Judiciary to respond. The Department of Justice refused to comment on the grounds that the judicial process was still in progress. The Judiciary said it did not comment on individual cases.
The legal profession election committee and barrister Huang Yuyi believes that it is hard to say that the trial by the three judges will be unfair, but that it can be expected that the authorities will use the relevant provisions at any time in the future and that there will be no jury in the case of national security law. Senior Counsel and Chairman of the Civic Party, Leung Jiajie, said that the initial design of the jury was to avoid the regime “smashing crabs to death” and political persecution of dissidents. He worries that under the National Security Law, the defendant is not allowed to be released on bail and there is no jury, etc., and it will be increasingly difficult to restore the credibility of Hong Kong’s rule of law in the free world.
Tang Yingjie was accused of driving a motorcycle with the “Recover Hong Kong, Revolution of the Times” flag in Wan Chai in July last year and crashing into the direction of a police officer. Since the case was brought to court in July last year, Tang Yingjie has been remanded.
Generally speaking, criminal cases in the Court of First Instance of the High Court will be tried in public by a judge and a jury of 7 or 9 persons. However, Article 46 of the “Minato National Security Law” stipulates that the Department of Justice may bring national security law cases The court was replaced by three judges from the High Court.
Other reports: The driving road test will resume on February 22
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