A former lawmaker and organiser of Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen candlelight vigils charged under the national security law has applied for bail for the second time in just over a month.
Albert Ho, former vice-chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, appeared at the High Court in front of Judge Johnny Chan on Monday.
Ho, along with the defunct Alliance and two more of its former leaders, stands accused of inciting subversion under the sweeping security legislation.
The ex-vice-chairperson was represented by senior counsel Derek Chan on Monday, while the Department of Justice was represented by Acting Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions (Special Duties) Ivan Cheung.
Following submissions from both Cheung and Chan, the judge adjourned the handing down of his decision to August 22.
During the hearing, Ho, who was wearing a striped shirt, read documents inside the dock. Former lawmakers Emily Lau, Margaret Ng, and Cyd Ho, were among those watching proceedings from the public gallery.
Monday was Ho’s second bail application in the case in just over a month. He made his first application at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on July 6 in front of Principal Magistrate Peter Law. The application was rejected by Law weeks later on July 20.
Under court reporting restrictions for bail proceedings, written and broadcast reports are limited to only include the result of a bail application, the name of the person applying for bail and their representation, and the alleged offence.
Ho last month completed prison terms for other protest-related offences. The former Democratic Party chairperson was jailed over assemblies including the 2020 banned Tiananmen candlelight vigil.
The Beijing-imposed national security law, enacted in June 2020, criminalised secession, subversion, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts, which were broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure.
The Alliance, before disbanding in September last year, organised the city’s annual vigils commemorating victims of the Tiananmen crackdown, where it is estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, died when the People’s Liberation Army cracked down on protesters in Beijing on June 4, 1989.
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