Hong Kong democrat asks for bail to be revoked in case related to 2018 scuffle in the legislature

Former lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting has asked for his bail to be revoked in relation to a scuffle in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) in 2018.

Lam, wearing a white shirt, appeared at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts in front of Principal Magistrate Peter Law on Tuesday. Law granted his application.

The former Democratic Party legislative councillor stands accused of obstructing a LegCo officer in the execution of their duty. Ex-legislator Andrew Wan, another defendant in the case, faces an additional charge of common assault.

Lam has been remanded in custody since March last year, after he was charged under the Beijing-imposed national security law. The democrat, along with 46 other pro-democracy figures, stands accused of conspiring to commit subversion over his role in an unofficial primary election for the 2020 Legislative Council election, which was later postponed.

Generally, time spent in remand prior to sentencing is deducted from the jail term if a defendant is sentenced to prison, while those who plead guilty usually are given a one-third deduction of their prison term.

Last month, Lam and Wan revealed that they intended to plead guilty in the case. The next hearing of the case is scheduled for December 13.

Lam and Wan were charged after a LegCo meeting on June 13, 2018. At the time the legislature was voting on the controversial co-location arrangement for the high-speed railway between Hong Kong and mainland China.

west kowloon court — Photo: Kelly Ho/HKFP.

The bill, later passed in the legislature, allowed a joint-checkpoint arrangement to be set up at the city’s West Kowloon Station. Critics, including the pro-democracy camp, said at the time that the proposal was unconstitutional, as immigration and customs procedures would be carried out by mainland officials in the Hong Kong station.

In the 2018 meeting, some pro-democracy lawmakers, including Lam and Wan, were ordered to leave the chamber.

As Lam was leaving the dock on Tuesday, people in the public gallery stood up and waved goodbye. The former lawmaker shouted “happy Mid-Autumn Festival,” to which some in the public gallery replied shouting the same, with some adding: “mooncakes are very delicious.”

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