The pro-democracy primary election case in Hong Kong involves 47 people accused of “conspiring to subvert state power” under the National Security Law, with 45 of them being convicted. The court continued to handle the fourth batch of defendants’ mitigation pleas today. The final two defendants to make their pleas were Jeffrey Andrews, who ran for the Kowloon West constituency, and Judy Yu, who participated in the primary election for the healthcare sector. Yu’s representative, barrister Rocky Shek, read out a letter from Yu stating that she believed there was no mistake in trying to bring about changes in the institutional order through legislative voting in the Legislative Council. She expressed, “Perhaps my only mistake is that I love Hong Kong too much.” However, Judge Chan Qing-wei interrupted, describing it as a political declaration and noting that she showed no remorse.
In the letter quoted by Shek, Judy Yu wrote that during the 2019 anti-extradition protests, over a million citizens took to the streets in peaceful demonstrations, but their opposing voices were not heard. By 2020, she observed the government’s failure to timely address the outbreak of the pandemic, as well as the continued arrests and sacrifices of protesters. Feeling a sense of urgency to halt this situation, she decided to run for the Legislative Council election to disrupt the political system and gain more bargaining chips. She expressed bewilderment at being accused of subverting the state power, a situation unheard of in other democratic countries.
Yu further questioned why universal suffrage was not included as a constitutional responsibility under Article 23 legislation. When the judge heard the phrase “Perhaps my only mistake is that I love Hong Kong” from Yu’s letter, he again interrupted, deeming it a political statement and reiterating the absence of remorse in her message. The judge ultimately did not allow Shek to finish reading the plea letter.
Representing Jeffrey Andrews, barrister Tony Kwok stated that Andrews’ involvement in the conspiracy was relatively minor. Kwok pointed out that Andrews had one prior conviction in 2012 for assisting in organizing an unauthorized public assembly, for which he was fined HK$1,000. Kwok emphasized that Andrews had learned from his mistakes, as evidenced by his compliance with police notifications for all marches and gatherings in 2019.
During yesterday’s mitigation, the judge raised concerns about whether Paul Wong had mistakenly believed that participating in the 35+ primary did not violate the national security law based on advice from the lead defendant Benny Tai, as he did not mention this in his plea letter. Paul Wong’s barrister, Roger Wong, stated today that during a press conference with the pro-democracy camp in July 2020, a reporter asked about vetoing all motions for potentially violating the National Security Law. One speaker clarified that it was a legitimate power of Legislative Council members, to which Paul Wong responded, “Yes,” reflecting his misunderstanding of the law.
The fourth batch of defendants has completed their pleas today. The fifth batch, including New Territories West candidates such as Roy Kwong and Alvin Yeung, will make their pleas on the 30th of this month.