Hong Kong national security law: lawyers file urgent bail application in bid to overturn ban on detained former party chief attending his father’s funeral

Lawyers for the detained former leader of Hong Kong’s biggest opposition party have filed an urgent bail application in a last-ditch bid to get round a prison ruling barring the ex-lawmaker from attending his father’s funeral.

The Democratic Party’s Wu Chi-wai, who is remanded in custody ahead of three coming trials, was denied permission to pay his respects in person at Friday’s ceremony, with prison authorities offering to live-stream proceedings for him instead.

The 58-year-old former chairman of the party has been charged under the Beijing-imposed national security law and is also facing trials for two other criminal offences.

A bail hearing has been fixed for 9.30am at the High Court on Friday – just hours before the evening memorial service for Wu’s late 92-year-old father.

Earlier, lawyer Albert Ho Chun-yan, another ex-chairman of the party, said a legal team hired by the political outfit to represent Wu intended to ask Court of First Instance judge Esther Toh Lye-ping to hear the application on Thursday afternoon.

But the hearing was timetabled for the following day after the Department of Justice demanded more time to prepare for the case.

A second source said the party had also asked the Correctional Services Department once more to reconsider Wu’s case.