No one should express their political opinions or display their advocacy in courts, a national security judge in a primary election trial said yesterday, after a man in a T-shirt imprinted with the words "civil disobedience" was spotted in court in the morning.
Making the remarks at the start of the hearing at 10.30 am, judge Andrew Chan Hing-wai warned such behavior may constitute contempt of court.
Sources said the man had wanted to sit in the public gallery in the mega West Kowloon magistrates' courtroom. He was denied entry.
Sixteen of the 47 defendants involved in the primary Legislative Council election have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit subversion between July 1, 2020, and January 7, 2021.
On the 49th day of the trial, prosecution witness Andrew Chiu Ka-yin continued to testify before Chan, Alex Lee Wan-tang and Johnny Chan Jong-herng.
Chiu, who has pleaded guilty, was questioned by Raymond Chan Chi-chuen's lawyer David Ma Wai-kwan.
Ma challenged Chiu's testimony on Friday, when he said Chan had attended a coordination meeting for the New Territories East constituency.
Ma presented an alibi for Chan and said Chiu had given false information.
That prompted Chiu to change his testimony and said the meeting secretary mistook someone else as Chan.
Chiu was also questioned by the barrister for another defendant Owen Chow Ka-sing on whether he was sure the phrase "veto the budget" was discussed in the first New Territories East coordination meeting.
Chiu said he heard Chow and Democratic Party's Chong Wing-fai talk about it, but it was not recorded in the minutes. Lee asked if the discussion had continued in a second meeting, to which Chiu gave an affirmative answer, but added he was not present.