Hong Kong activist “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung said he would hold his head high despite being kept in custody awaiting trial under the national security law.

Leung was among 47 pro-democracy figures charged last month with subversion, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Only eight of those charged have been granted bail so far.

Having spent two weeks in custody, Leung appeared strong-willed when visited by his colleagues from the League of Social Democrats. Leung quoted a line by Chen Duxiu, a revolutionary socialist who co-founded the Chinese Communist Party: “My heart is at ease for my deeds are honorable. Though in peril, my spirits are undimmed.”

Leung also said he was not afraid of death as long as his reputation was vindicated, according to fellow activist Raphael Wong.

Wong said he brought a copy of the Bible for Leung and added that the 47 democrats’ situation was far from ideal.

He pointed to the slow pace of Hong Kong’s judiciary and pointed to the case of Tam Tak-chi, who has been in custody for nine months before his trial has even started. “We can imagine that, for these 47 activists, their trial might not begin for another year and a half,” Wong said.

Businessman Jerome Lau said that detained activist Jimmy Sham appeared to be in good spirits when he visited him. The public should do their best to support these democratic figures, such as by visiting them in detention, going to court hearings, attending street booths and supporting pro-democracy businesses, Lau added.

Sze Tak-loy of the Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood had been kept in custody after prosecutors challenged an earlier court decision granting him bail. Sze’s wife said it was hard to predict whether his bail would be revoked.

“I’ve asked him what supplies he would want [in custody], or who he would want to meet, just in case he cannot be released tomorrow,” she said. “I continue to hope that he can get out on bail tomorrow.”

Detained activist Ventus Lau has been trying to keep up with the bail developments

of his fellow democrats, according to his girlfriend, Emilia Wong, who has been visiting him almost daily.

Wong said Lau asked her why some activists were granted bail, while others were not. “I told him, even the lawyers might not be able to tell you what the standards are for bail,” she said.

The couple had been writing to each other every day, but Lau has only received three letters so far as their missives have to be reviewed by the Correctional Services Department.

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