National security law: Hong Kong student activist facing up to seven years in prison after change of trial venue
- Prosecutors have moved Tony Chung’s secession case from West Kowloon Court to the higher District Court, where sentences are capped at seven years
- Chung also faces charges of sedition and money laundering
Chief Magistrate Victor So Wai-tak, one of six magistrates designated to adjudicate national security cases, on Thursday granted prosecutors’ request to transfer Chung’s secession case from West Kowloon Court to the higher court, where sentences are capped at seven years.
The 19-year-old, who founded the now-defunct Studentlocalism group, is the second of four people charged under the legislation – which criminalises in broad terms any acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with external forces – since its enactment on June 30, 2020.
The first defendant, Tong Ying-kit, was accused of inciting secession and terrorism for allegedly driving his motorcycle into a group of police officers while carrying a flag calling for the city’s liberation during a July 1 demonstration. He will stand trial at the High Court, where the maximum sentence is life imprisonment.
There is only one designated national security judge at the District Court known to the public so far: Stanley Chan Kwong-chi.