Hong Kong Court Denies Jury Trial to First Person Charged Under National Security Law
Voice of America
HONG KONG - The first person charged under the national security law in Hong Kong will face a trial without jury, the city's High Court ruled on Thursday, in a landmark decision which marks a departure from the global financial hub's common law traditions.
Police say Tong Ying-kit, 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 the narrow street before falling over and getting arrested. It was the first day on which the national security law was in force. The law punishes anything authorities deem as secession, separatism, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison. Tong, 24, was among more than 300 demonstrators against the new law who were arrested that day, and was charged with inciting separatism and terrorism.Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.