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Hong Kong activists Avery Ng, Richard Tsoi to plead guilty in protest case

蘋果日報 2021/05/17 10:57


Hong Kong activists Avery Ng and Richard Tsoi have said they will plead guilty to inciting an unauthorized assembly in a case related to a National Day protest in 2019.
Ng, of the League of Social Democrats, told Apple Daily that he felt “calm” ahead of the trial, which is scheduled to begin on Monday. Ng said he was prepared to spend years behind bars, adding that his case was “not a big deal” compared to national security law prosecutions.
Tsoi said he would face the court proceedings “calmly” and his organization, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, would make preparations for the reduction in manpower.
“In this difficult environment, [the Hong Kong Alliance] needs to retain some capacity for dealing with more lawsuits in the future and for more community-level work,” Tsoi said, explaining his decision to plead guilty.
The duo are among 10 pro-democracy figures charged with “incitement to knowingly take part in an unauthorized assembly” on Oct. 1, 2019. The other defendants are Figo Chan, Lee Cheuk-yan, “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung, Albert Ho, Yeung Sum, Cyd Ho, Sin Chung-kai and Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai.
Ng said on Sunday that he was worried about the well-being of the older democrats facing charges, such as Leung and Lai. “The steady addition of court cases is clearly a burden to them and their families,” he said.
Sin, a Democratic Party activist who also chairs the Kwai Tsing District Council, said he had made preparations in case he was remanded in custody. He did not say whether he would plead guilty.
On China’s National Day in 2019, thousands marched on Hong Kong Island in defiance of a police ban and carried banners that read “there is no National Day celebration, only a national tragedy.” Protesters also clashed with police in Wong Tai Sin, Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin and other districts across the city.
The 10-day trial will begin on Monday morning before District Judge Amanda Woodcock.
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