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Scenes from the bail trial of 47 Hong Kong democrats: A reporter’s observations

蘋果日報 2021/03/05 05:08


It’s been four days of marathon bail hearings for the 47 pro-democracy activists, academics, and politicians, charged under the national security law.
I reported from the courts for three of those four days. From the day they reported to the police station on Feb. 28 and were formally charged for “conspiracy to commit subversion,” they have been kept locked up and away from the public. And in court, each of them has become “the accused,” with barristers speaking on their behalf.
But by yesterday evening, seven of the activists decided to speak for themselves by firing their barristers. And suddenly, these “accused” once again have faces and names. They, once again, became the sort of people that a journalist like myself needed to get to know in order to profile.
Listening to these voices through a sound system brought back many memories of interviewing these people on numerous occasions. I remembered them making speeches at the Legislative Council meetings and debating on radio shows.
Most reporters like myself had interviewed and questioned many of those who stood on the stand in court yesterday. I remembered their voices over the phone, answering my many queries. And even if granted bail, I doubt I would be able to call up those old numbers as I did for comments.
I watched as Gwyneth Ho, a former journalist for Stand News, approached the stand after firing her barrister at the last minute. She spoke with clarity like it was an election debate forum. She was followed by Democratic Party politician Lam Cheuk-ting. The two had often butted heads in the democratic camp primary last year, differing in their political ideas. Some of those encounters I recalled were quite heated.
What struck me was the wide spectrum of democratic political beliefs represented by the 47 people on the defendants’ bench. And as the pro-democracy figures on the opposing ends of the democratic camp sat side by side, their supporters also reflected that diversity. I saw district councilors, political party members and more “re-encountering” each other again in the waiting halls of the West Kowloon Law Courts. And behind those 47 people aren’t just 47 families. The 47 people represent 47 different political groups and the 47 ways Hong Kong’s democratic movement could have gone.
I was reminded the last time I saw such diversity in thoughts and political beliefs in one room, was at an inter-party celebration quite many years ago. People had once worried that the pro-democratic camp wasn’t diverse enough nor representative enough of the public. Ironically today, the pro-democratic camp has never been as diverse, or as invigorated with young blood as it is, yet all of them seem to face the same fate with charges that could land them in prison for life.
I was able to ask a few supporters at the hearing about their thoughts.
We can only do our best, some said. We can only hold on for as long as we can, others said.
And I suppose this is how most Hongkongers feel today.
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