New | Teenager and three others in court over alleged PLA barracks trespass
Fifteen-year-old among defendants accused of intruding at sensitive military site last December
The four Hongkongers, including one 15-year-old, accused of trespassing at the People’s Liberation Army barracks in Admiralty in December last year appeared in court on Monday.
Three of the four were late for this morning’s pretrial hearing at the Eastern Court. All four have pleaded not guilty to the charge of entering a closed area without a permit.
Magistrate So Wai-tak confiscated Billy Chiu Hin-chung’s HK$500 bail because of his late arrival, but granted him further bail of HK$500.
“Court proceedings should be treated seriously,” So told the 29-year-old.
In April, Chiu applied to the court to end his trial, after Beijing expressed "grave concern" over the alleged intrusion. Chiu said he suspected the court may be under political pressure as a result.
On Monday, his duty lawyer said he was unable to contact Chiu before the hearing was due to begin, and believed he went to the wrong court. Chiu said he has no fixed residential address and is unemployed.
The 15-year-old, who cannot be named because he is under 16, attended court this morning with his mother.
The trial is expected to run from May 19 to 22 with nine prosecution witnesses to be called, including PLA officers and police officers.
Chiu and three others – Dickson Cheung Hon-yin, 40, Tse Wing-man, 29, and the teenager – were arrested on January 1 over the alleged intrusion on Boxing Day.
Both Cheung and Tse said they were late this morning because they got stuck in traffic. Cheung lives in Cheung Chau and Tse, a salesperson, lives in Yuen Long.
Cheung asked the court not to confiscate his bail money as his family – he has a wife and two daughters aged three and five – live on social security. The magistrate issued a warning to Cheung and Tse but did not confiscate their bail.
