Marathon Subversion Hearing To Continue On Wednesday

West Kowloon Court adjourned for the night shortly after 10:30pm on Tuesday after two marathon days of hearings on bail arrangements for 47 pro-democracy figures charged with subversion under the national security law.

With multiple defendants nodding off and their lawyers complaining that their clients were exhausted by the lengthy proceedings, Chief Magistrate Victor So decided to adjourn the hearing until noon on Wednesday, to deal with the remaining eight defendants he had yet to hear from.

He in particular noted that legal scholar Benny Tai looked exhausted, after he returned from a separate court hearing at the High Court

During the hearing, So also gave permission for some tired defendants to leave the courtroom to rest.

The magistrate said he would announce his decisions on all the defendants after hearing all relevant submissions on Wednesday.

The court had been in session for nearly 24 hours over two days, with five defendants ending up in hospital after day one, and one fainting in court before the proceedings were cut short past 3am on Tuesday.

Lawyers for some of the defendants say their clients were taken back to the Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre at around 6am, before they were brought back to court after a one or two-hour span.

The 47 defendants, who held Legco primary polls for the pro-democracy camp last year, are accused of plotting to overthrow the SAR government by trying to gain a majority in Legco and then indiscriminately voting down budgets.

To be allowed bail under the Beijing-imposed security legislation, the magistrate will need to have sufficient grounds to believe that the suspects won't "continue" to endanger national security.