Journalists run as police fire water cannons during a HK march against the new national security law last July.
Last month, the Court of First Instance in the High Court ruled that Tong Ying-kit would face a trial without jury, citing “a perceived risk of the personal safety of jurors and their family members”.“Although jury trial is the conventional mode of trial in the Court of First Instance, it should not be assumed to be the only means of achieving fairness in the criminal process,” according to a summary of the decision by judges Jeremy Poon, Wally Yeung and Johnson Lam.
Police say Tong carried a sign reading “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” and drove his motorbike into officers during a protest on July 1, knocking several down on a narrow street before falling over and getting arrested. Tong then filed for a judicial review of the decision, which High Court Judge Alex Lee in the Court of First Instance rejected.