‘Truth is very clear': 4 activists refuse to make arguments in League of Social Democrats street booth trial
Four Hong Kong activists who pleaded not guilty to offences linked to holding street booths in 2023 declined to make their arguments during their trial, with one saying that 'the truth is already very clear.'
Three members of the pro-democracy League of Social Democrats (LSD) – Chan Po-ying, Dickson Chau and Yu Wai-pan – as well as activist Lee Ying-chi appeared at the Eastern Magistrates' Courts on Tuesday morning.
With the exception of Chan, who is the chairperson of the party, the other three activists did not hire lawyers and represented themselves.
The four face a total of 12 counts of collecting money in a public place without a permit and displaying bills or posters on government land without permission.
Their offences are in relation to street booths they held in Causeway Bay and Wan Chai on three days in 2023: April 2, April 30, and May 28.
The trial began with the prosecution, led by barrister Timmy Yip, presenting their case. Yip summoned four police officers who observed the street booths on those three days as witnesses and asked them questions based on videos taken of the incidents.
After that, Magistrate Minnie Wat asked Chan's barrister, Anson Wong, if his client would testify and if he would call any witnesses. Wong said no to both questions.
When Chau was asked if he would testify, he said no 'because the truth is already very clear.' He also said he would not summon any witnesses.
Yu and Lee echoed their co-defendants. Wat adjourned the case to Wednesday afternoon for the prosecution and the defence to give their closing submissions.
Officers' testimonies
The four pro-democracy activists' trial comes two years after they held the street booths, during which they displayed a blank black cloth banner and handed out publications with QR codes for donation links, according to the prosecution.
Representing the prosecution, Yip played videos of three incidents during the examination-in-chief. The police officers, who acted as prosecution witnesses, testified that they recognised the people in the clips as the defendants on trial.
Wong, Chan's lawyer, asked the first two witnesses to confirm that the black cloth at the booths was indeed blank, and if it was therefore different from displays one might see at other public assemblies. The two witnesses agreed.
After the lawyers finished questioning each witness, the activists representing themselves also posed questions to the officers.
Lee, the only defendant who is not an LSD member, confirmed with the first three witnesses that they did not hear the activists urging people to donate money and did not see anybody giving money. They agreed.
Chau asked the third witness whether the reason police officers filmed the street booth on May 28, 2023, extensively was because the activists had mentioned June 4 – the date of the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989. The witness said he disagreed.
When Chau questioned what the police's aim was in filming the street booth, Yip said he believed it went beyond the scope of the testimony.
QR codes
The fourth witness, a police officer who happened to be handed publications by the activists on the three dates of the street booths, told the court that she brought the publications back to the police headquarters, where she scanned the two QR codes printed on them.
The QR codes directed users to donate to them via Paypal's Braintree and HSBC's PayMe, she said. The prosecution presented pages of screenshots, made by the officer surnamed Choi, showing the steps of how payment can be made.
Choi told Chan's lawyer, Wong, that she did not complete payments on either platform. She confirmed that she did not know if the payment would actually work.
Chau asked Choi why she made 16 screenshots of Braintree, but only one of PayMe. Choi answered that she had made a screenshot for every step, and PayMe simply had fewer steps.
The activist said that he believed Choi knew that payments through PayMe would not have worked because HSBC had already frozen LSD's account, referring to the bank ending its relationship with the political party in 2023.
The QR code was already ineffective, Chau also told the court.
Meanwhile, Lee questioned why anyone would hand out publications with QR codes for a frozen bank account and ask people to donate money.
When asked by Yu, Choi confirmed that she did not see any money boxes at their street booth or other ways in which funds could be collected.
Six LSD members in the same case pleaded guilty in October and were fined up to HK$1,000.
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