A Hong Kong court has endorsed a final attempt by 11 jailed opposition politicians and activists to clear their name, following their convictions for conspiracy to commit subversion in a landmark national security trial.
In a written judgment delivered on Monday, the Court of Appeal identified five legal issues that deserved further scrutiny by the Court of Final Appeal over the appellants’ involvement in an unofficial legislative primary election in 2020 and a broader scheme to paralyse the Legislative Council.
Chief Judge of the High Court Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor, appeal justice Derek Pang Wai-cheong and Court of First Instance judge William Tam Yiu-ho acknowledged that the issues were of “great and general importance” because they concerned the boundary between criminal conduct and the exercise of a lawmaker’s constitutional duties, powers and functions.
“They merit the consideration by the Court of Final Appeal, in particular when it is the first occasion they are to be determined by our apex court,” the judgment said.
Despite the ruling, the Court of Final Appeal can still decide whether to permit the 11 appellants to advance their case before the top judges.
The appellants were among 47 opposition figures prosecuted in the largest national security case to date over what the trial court described as a “grand strategy of subversion” by winning a controlling majority in the legislature.