A Hong Kong court ruled on Wednesday that prosecutors could label organisers of the city's annual Tiananmen vigil "foreign agents" without having to reveal who the group is accused of working for.

The decision was made on national security grounds but those being prosecuted argue that the precedent-setting ruling makes it harder to prepare their defence ahead of trial.

For three decades, the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance held vigils commemorating victims of China's deadly 1989 crackdown on democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

Those commemorations have been driven underground since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong following democracy protests three years ago.

Authorities charged the alliance with "incitement to subversion", a national security offence, and ordered it to turn over years of data about its membership, finances and overseas ties.

Police arrested five alliance leaders, including vice chair Chow Hang-tung, last year after they openly defied the order to surrender information.

As basis for their data demand, police accused the alliance of working as a "foreign agent" — rhetoric that matches Beijing's stance that the Tiananmen protests were instigated by foreign forces rather than being a popular movement.

Pre-trial hearings under Hong Kong's national security law are often shrouded in secrecy and covered by strict reporting restrictions.

But this week's hearing was a rare session held in open court.

Chow, a barrister who is representing herself, and other defence lawyers asked prosecutors to identify who they are accused of working with.

But magistrate Peter Law on Wednesday said prosecutors can redact details of ongoing police investigations in documents provided to the defence.

"To have a full disclosure of all the documents will definitely be a real risk of serious prejudice to an important public interest, i.e. national security," Law said.

Prosecutors applied for public interest immunity — a feature of common law usually invoked to protect sensitive information such as the identities of undercover officers.

Albert Wong, a defence barrister, said disclosure was necessary because the court will need to determine at trial whether the alliance was in fact a foreign agent.

Wong warned police could "put a blank label of foreign agent to anybody" without having to back the claim up.

But Magistrate Law ultimately sided with the prosecution and allowed them to redact their evidence.

Three Alliance defendants, including Chow, will go on trial on July 13, which coincides with the fifth anniversary of the death of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Tiananmen activist Liu Xiaobo.

Two others have already pleaded guilty.

Hong Kong defence fund trustee arrested at airport: sources
Hong Kong (AFP) May 11, 2022 –

A Hong Kong scholar who helped run a now-disbanded defence fund for democracy protesters was arrested at the airport under the national security law, two legal sources told AFP on Wednesday.

Hui Po-keung, a prominent cultural studies scholar, was on his way to take up an academic post in Europe before he was detained on Tuesday, the sources said, asking not to be named.

The arrest was confirmed by a second legal source. Police have yet to respond to a request for comment.

Hui was arrested for "collusion with foreign forces", one source said, an offence under a new security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in response to huge protests three years ago.

The law has crushed dissent in the once outspoken business hub and can carry up to life in jail.

Hui was one of six trustees of the "612 Humanitarian Relief Fund" which helped arrested protesters pay for their legal and medical bills.

Other trustees of the fund include retired cleric Cardinal Joseph Zen, veteran barrister Margaret Ng, gay rights activist and pop singer Denise Ho as well jailed democracy activist Cyd Ho.

The fund disbanded last year after the city's national security police demanded it hand over operational details including information about its donors and beneficiaries.

Shortly before the fund closed, Hong Kong's Lingnan University confirmed that its contract with Hui had ended the month before but declined to state a reason on personal privacy grounds.

Academics who played prominent roles in Hong Kong's now largely decimated democracy movement have often found themselves dropped by universities and are struggling to find work.

An active social commentator and prolific author, Hui taught for more than two decades at Lingnan University and was credited by prominent former student leader Nathan Law for inspiring his political career.