Hong Kong’s 47 in national security law case: defence barrister complains of trial’s ‘notoriety’, difficulty in securing expert witnesses
- Barrister Trevor Beel for journalist turned activist Gwyneth Ho takes aim at prosecution for what he says was late submission of expert statements
- Judges dismiss his argument as ‘speculations’; Beel also calls on prosecution to clarify allegations
A lawyer for one of the Hong Kong opposition figures in the city’s biggest national security trial has told the court he expected difficulties in securing expert witnesses to counter those of prosecutors due to “notoriety” surrounding the legal proceedings.
Barrister Trevor Beel on Friday complained about prosecutors’ lateness in submitting legal statements from social media experts they wished to rely on later in their case.
He argued the delay had “irredeemably prejudiced” the case of his client, journalist turned activist Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam, one of the 16 opposition activists and politicians currently on trial for subversion at West Kowloon Court after pleading not guilty.
The prosecutors wish to call on two specialised police sergeants to testify in the estimated 90-day trial to discuss the operations of Facebook and YouTube, two key online platforms featured in the trial. But Beel complained he was only provided with the English translation of their statements days before the trial began earlier this week.
The barrister pointed to potential problems he foresaw in preparing a rebuttal.
He argued due to the nature of the trial, there was “reasonable expectation” his team would encounter difficulties in securing willing scholars to counter the prosecution.
“It has a certain notoriety to it,” Beel told judges Alex Lee Wan-tang, Andrew Chan Hing-wai and Johnny Chan Jong-herng, who are among a pool of jurists hand-picked by the government to hear national security cases.
