A Hong Kong political commentator charged with disclosing details of a national security investigation will stand trial in October.
Wong Kwok-ngon, known by his pen name Wong On-yin, appeared at the District Court on Tuesday.
Judge Stanley Chan said the pre-trial review would take place behind closed doors on August 11, and the trial would begin on October 9.
Before the hearing began on Tuesday, Judge Chan told those in the public gallery that police would take down their names if they called out words of encouragement for Wong after the hearing ended.
Chan noted that at the court mention last month, after the hearing ended and he had left the room, people made comments of support to the defendant.
Wong, 72, has been detained since his arrest in December for allegedly divulging in a YouTube video details of enquiries made by police during a national security investigation.
The offence falls under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, a homegrown security law known as Article 23. It was added to the ordinance in May as part of subsidiary legislation, and Wong is the first to be charged under the new law.
Wong is also charged with sedition over videos posted on YouTube between January 3 and December 6 last year. He plans to plead not guilty to both charges.
The defendant, who continues to represent himself, told the court he had dropped his legal aid application.
Asked by the judge whether he had legal knowledge for self-defence, Wong said he had “three law degrees” and was confident of handling the case.
The prosecution has set aside eight days for its case and plans to go through around 30 commentary videos on Wong’s YouTube channel. The transcripts of the videos run to more than 900 pages.
The prosecution added that it had lined up six witnesses, all police officers.
Wong was taken in by national security police in December, on the same day he was set to appear at a press conference about the fatal Wang Fuk Court fire, which had occurred days before. He was then released.
He was arrested four days later on suspicion of “prejudicing of investigation of offences endangering national security” and “doing an act that has a seditious intention with a seditious intention.”
