Policemen watch people entering the West Kowloon Magistrates' Court in Hong Kong on June 25. (Photo: AFP)
Jailed Hong Kong legal scholar and democracy activist Benny Tai pleaded in court on June 25 for a lesser sentence, as he faces up to life in prison under a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing.
Tai, 59, pleaded guilty at a mass trial of democracy activists to "conspiracy to subvert the state power" for organizing an unofficial primary poll in 2020 to shortlist candidates in a bid to win a majority in later-cancelled legislature elections.
The offense carries up to life in jail under the sweeping national security law imposed on the city four years ago to quash dissent after huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Beijing called Tai "the principal culprit" and warned of "severe punishment by law" in an article published on the National Security Ministry's social media platform last week.
On June 25, Tai and four other defendants -– Au Nok-hin, Andrew Chiu, Ben Chung and Gordon Ng -– were the first to attend a mitigation session to argue for lesser sentences.
Wearing a white T-shirt and a black jacket, the grey-haired former constitutional law professor smiled and waved to the public spectators from the defendant's dock.
Stewart Wong, a senior lawyer representing Tai, asked the court to give him two years in jail, which would in theory allow him to be released immediately as he, like most of his co-defendants, has been detained since March 2021.
Wong argued that the alleged conspiracy only became unlawful after Beijing imposed the security law and that Tai's role became "rather limited" since.
Leading prosecutor Jonathan Man however indicated he would press for a severe sentence.
"It's quite unacceptable to say that an organizer of a crime is not a principal offender. I can say that any submission like that defies common sense," Man said.
The three High Court judges handpicked by the government to try the case found in their judgment last month that Tai was "the brain and the primary promoter" of the alleged conspiracy over the primary vote "that would create a constitutional crisis for Hong Kong".
Forty-five of the 47 defendants have been convicted, including Tai and 30 others who pleaded guilty as well as 14 who were found guilty after a 118-day trial last year.
The prosecution is appealing against one of the two acquittals.
Other defendants, including prominent activist Joshua Wong and veteran legislators Leung "Long Hair" Kwok-hung and Claudia Mo, will appear in five other mitigation sessions extending into August.
