Apple Daily collusion case to resume on Oct 12Six former executives and journalists of the now-shuttered newspaper Apple Daily appeared in court on Thursday on charges of collusion under Hong Kong’s national security law.They will next return to court on October 12, the date given by Acting Chief Magistrate Peter Law, who belongs to a pool of judges designated to handle national security cases. The case, now with the Magistrates’ Courts, is expected to be moved to the High Court for trial.Prosecutors said the group of former Apple Daily employees conspired to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security. The defendants are Apple Daily’s former publisher Cheung Kim-hung, editor-in-chief Ryan Law, executive editor-in-chief Lam Man-chung, associate publisher Chan Pui-man, and editorial writers Yeung Ching-kee and Fung Wai-kong.The same collusion charge is also levelled against the companies Apple Daily Limited, Apple Daily Printing Limited and AD Internet Limited. No representative came forward on behalf of these companies during Thursday’s hearing.Cheung and Ryan Law, who are among the first batch of former Apple Daily employees facing national security charges, have been remanded in custody for nearly three months, while the four others have spent around two months behind bars. None of them applied for bail on Thursday.During the hearing, the six waved and gave thumbs-up gestures to a courtroom packed with family members and supporters – which included multiple former Apple Daily journalists. Loud chants of “add oil” and “hang in there” rang from the crowd as the defendants were led away.According to the prosecution, the six conspired with the newspaper’s founder Jimmy Lai to invite foreign sanctions or other hostile measures on Hong Kong or China. Lai has also been charged and detained under the national security law, though he will face trial separately. The 26-year-old paper he established was forced to shut down in late June as Hong Kong authorities intensified enforcement action against the media outlet.Bail denied again for barrister-activist Chow Hang-tung.In a separate case concerning national security, the magistrate Law denied the bail application of activist Chow Hang-tung, a former leader of the group that organised Hong Kong’s annual June 4 candlelight vigil commemorating victims of the 1989 Beijing Tiananmen Square crackdown.Chow, a barrister, is charged with inciting subversion and failing to comply with the authorities’ request to provide information on the group she led, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.Chow appeared in court in a white T-shirt with a small Mickey Mouse pattern. In an earlier Facebook post, Chow complained that detention officers prohibited her from wearing T-shirts that bore the alliance’s slogans, citing “security reasons”.On Wednesday, national security police froze more of the alliance’s assets, in addition to assets worth HK$2.2 million (US$283,000) already frozen earlier this month. In their latest action, the police suspended the use of the alliance’s bank accounts and Mong Kok property, which previously housed the June 4 Museum, after alliance members voted to disband their group last Saturday.By Holmes Chan。 Explainer: Independence slogans at the heart of Hong Kong’s second security law trialHere’s what you need to know:Ma Chun-man is the second person standing trial under Hong Kong’s national security law. The trial will conclude next week and a verdict is expected on October 25.Prosecutors said Ma incited secession by chanting pro-independence slogans, displaying placards and talking to the press on 20 occasions in the second half of last year.Unlike the city’s first national security trial, which ended in July, Ma is not accused of committing violence and is charged solely on the basis of what he said.This week, Hong Kong prosecutors made their case in the District Court against Ma Chun-man, the second person to be tried under the city’s national security law.Ma, 30, has pleaded not guilty to one count of inciting secession. Prosecutors said he publicly advocated Hong Kong independence on 20 separate occasions between August 15 and November 22 last year — chanting slogans, holding up placards and giving interviews to the media.The trial is scheduled to run for five days, up to next Tuesday. District Judge Stanley Chan, who is among the jurists chosen to handle national security cases, said he expected to make his ruling on October 25.The offence of inciting secession comes with a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail under Article 21 of the national security law, but Ma will not serve more than seven years if convicted, because he is being tried in the District Court.What is Ma accused of doing?The former food delivery worker was arrested multiple times between last August and November, mostly because of his expressions in favour of independence. A regular presence at rallies and protests, he earned the nickname “Captain America 2.0” as he sometimes carried a toy replica of the comic character’s shield. “The defendant, both by himself and leading others, chanted ‘Hong Kong independence, the only way out’, ‘Hongkongers build our nation’, ‘Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times’... On multiple occasions, he displayed placards to the public bearing the words ‘One nation, one Hong Kong’,” government lawyers told the court in their opening arguments on Tuesday.“The defendant promoted independence when he was interviewed by the media. He clearly expressed that his cause was Hong Kong independence and said the national security law was just an ornament,” they said, adding that Ma used his social media and Telegram accounts to encourage people to join protests.Ma also said the idea of Hong Kong independence should be discussed at all levels of education, and urged the public to prepare for armed conflict, according to the prosecutors.Defence lawyers, meanwhile, contended at the beginning of the trial that Ma only wanted to “test the bottom line” of the national security law and had no intention of inciting others to commit secession. They also questioned whether the prosecution could prove that the Facebook posts cited as evidence were really written by Ma.What happened in the trial so far?Starting from Tuesday, the prosecution called two police witnesses to testify on Ma’s behaviour. One officer said he issued Ma with a fixed penalty ticket on August 15 last year for breaching social distancing laws outside the Pacific Place shopping centre in Admiralty, and that Ma shouted pro-independence slogans as he received the ticket.The other policeman said he was part of a team that searched Ma’s home, where they found five black T-shirts with the slogan “Give me liberty or give me death”, Ma’s computer, and a notebook with the words “Captain America’s diary of resistance”.As evidence, the prosecution also submitted 18 video clips taken from the internet and two others filmed by the police. The clips showed Ma’s behaviour at protests and rallies that took place all across Hong Kong.Prosecutors further cited Ma’s testimony from a court appearance a few weeks earlier, where he tried to contest the social distancing fine. Speaking without a lawyer, Ma told the court that his purpose for going to Pacific Place on August 15, 2020, was to “promote Hong Kong independence and prepare for the coming of the next revolution”, and that “blood must be spilt during a revolution”.Judge Chan ruled on Tuesday that this previous speech could not be used as evidence for the current case against Ma.Throughout the trial, Ma did not defend himself in court, nor did the defence call any witnesses or cross-examine the two police officers. The hearing will resume on October 5 for both sides to make closing arguments. How does this case fit into the big picture?Ma has been locked up since last November. After his initial application for bail was denied, he shouted from the dock: “The fruits of democracy are obtained through blood and sweat.”In a June interview with Stand News, Ma confessed to feeling demoralised after spending nearly three months in solitary confinement. “I have to accept reality. If I always think about resistance, I will have a breakdown,” he wrote in a letter.He was one to enjoy the company of others, he added, and was especially hard hit after learning he would be transferred to the maximum-security Stanley prison. In contrast to the high-profile trial of Tong Ying-kit — the first person convicted and jailed under Hong Kong’s national security law — Ma’s case has drawn considerably less attention both at home and abroad. During the hearings, the public gallery in the courtroom often sat half-empty.As of September 2021, more than 150 people have been arrested under the national security law, including students, activists, journalists and politicians. At least half of them have been formally charged.By Holmes Chan。