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HK court grants bail to 15 of 47 activists

Sharon Tam and Jessie PangAAP
Police have warned supporters outside a court in Hong Kong amid a hearing for 47 activists.
Camera IconPolice have warned supporters outside a court in Hong Kong amid a hearing for 47 activists.

A Hong Kong court has granted bail to 15 of 47 democracy activists charged with conspiracy to commit subversion as the case draws widespread criticism that China is using a security law to crush the city's opposition.

Well-known activists including Lester Shum, who served as deputy secretary for the Hong Kong Federation of Students, Jimmy Sham and veteran activist Leung Kwok-hung are among the 32 denied bail.

The case has been adjourned to May 31.

The marathon bail proceedings started on Monday in a landmark case after the most sweeping use yet of the city's national security law, which punishes its most serious charges, including subversion, with up to life in prison.

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Foreign diplomats and rights groups are closely monitoring the case as concerns mount over the vanishing space for dissent in the former British colony which has taken a swift authoritarian turn since the imposition of the law in June 2020.

The hearings have gone on late into the night for three consecutive days, causing several defendants to fall ill and be taken to the hospital.

This has raised concerns among rights groups and some foreign diplomats over the treatment of the activists.

Hong Kong laws restrict media coverage of the content of bail hearings.

An appeal to lift those restrictions in the interests of transparency was rejected by the court on Thursday.

In contrast with the global financial hub's common law traditions, the new security law puts the onus on defendants to prove they will not pose a security threat if released on bail.

The activists, aged 23-64, are accused of organising and participating in an unofficial, non-binding primary poll last July that authorities said was part of a "vicious plot" to "overthrow" the government.

The vote, in which not all of the accused were winners, was aimed at selecting the strongest opposition candidates for a legislative council election that the government later postponed, citing the coronavirus.

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