Here’s what you need to know about Day 8 of the trial:

• A video indicated defendant Tong Ying-kit had a slogan-related object in his wallet, but lawyers couldn’t find the evidence in court. 
• The object might have gone missing while Tong was kept in hospital after his arrest.

Lawyers in Hong Kong’s first national security trial took a lengthy detour on Wednesday after an object with the protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times” could not be found at the hearing inside the defendant’s wallet, contrary to expectations.

The missing piece of evidence was first mentioned in a police video recorded shortly after Tong Ying-kit was arrested last year, when he supposedly told officers about an item — possibly a card or a paper slip — bearing the slogan in his wallet. When lawyers from both sides jointly examined the wallet in court, they came up empty.

It was unclear where the object had gone. The prosecution, seeking to prove the authorities had not tampered with the evidence, summoned a new police witness to the stand. The lead defence lawyer, meanwhile, bristled at what he deemed was an unstated but obvious suggestion of dishonesty in his team.

The defendant’s usage of the slogan has become a key factor in the trial, which was in its eighth day at the High Court. Tong, 24, allegedly rode a motorcycle into a group of police officers on July 1, 2020, while flying a black flag bearing the slogan. He denies charges of terrorism, inciting secession and dangerous driving; if convicted, he could face life in prison.

Police at the scene of arrest tell the court they don’t know where the card is.

The court on Wednesday heard from Detective Police Constable Chiu Tsz-ming, who was responsible for collecting evidence after Tong was arrested. He was also the one who filmed the defendant being searched. 

In the video, Tong was seen sitting cross-legged on the ground as a police officer went through his belongings. When the officer opened the wallet in front of Tong and asked to see his identity card, the defendant said “beneath ‘Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times’ ”, according to prosecutors. 

Chiu said he did not seize the wallet there and then. Any belongings not confiscated were generally returned to the person under arrest, he said. 

The wallet was then brought before the court, but the slogan-bearing item was not found inside. Chiu said he did not tamper with the wallet and did not notice anyone else doing so.

In response to the surprise development, the prosecution called Constable So Siu-wing, the officer who conducted the body search. So said he was able to find Tong’s identity card after speaking with him, but could not remember the full conversation. Nor could he recall displaying the wallet’s contents to Tong, or what Tong meant by something being “beneath” the slogan.

The missing card is not our fault, say lawyers on both sides.

The prosecutors argued that the wallet was not taken away from Tong at the scene of the collision. It stayed with him as he was admitted to hospital on July 1, until it was formally taken from him and sealed on July 6, they said.

“During that period, we want to establish that the wallet was kept by Tong himself… [and] was not tampered by police or correctional officers,” said Anthony Chau, acting deputy director of public prosecutions.

Pressed on the relevance of the item, Chau said it showed that Tong had knowledge of those words. If it had disappeared as part of “post-offence conduct”, that could also strengthen the prosecution’s argument about Tong’s state of mind, he added.

The defence countered that Tong was handcuffed throughout his hospital stay and had no access to his wallet, which was in a nearby cupboard. 

The court’s attention then turned to defence solicitors who met Tong in hospital. The defence said it was not true that police officers always stayed outside the ward when Tong received legal visits. On one occasion, a police investigator retrieved a driving licence from the wallet in front of Tong and his lawyer, it said. 

Lead defence counsel Clive Grossman SC said he was not alleging that the police tampered with the wallet, but stressed the responsibility did not fall on his side either. Grossman said he was concerned about an “unstated but obvious” suggestion of impropriety against Tong’s solicitors.

“I sense something floating in the air. There is some suggestion of dishonesty,” he told the court. “It’s very important to clear the air.”

Judge Anthea Pang, one of the three jurists hearing the case, said the court was not implying any impropriety. The prosecution, however, responded by saying it was not ruling out the possibility and needed to look at records before deciding its position. The judges then proposed checking the hospital’s records for details of Tong’s legal visits.

As the day’s session drew to a close, Grossman noted that the prosecution case was taking longer than expected. 

The trial will resume on Thursday morning. Lawrence Lau, junior counsel for the defence, will not be present in court on Thursday afternoon as he needs to attend another hearing as a defendant in a separate national security case. Lau is one of 47 democracy figures charged with conspiracy to commit subversion in relation to primary polls held last July.

By Holmes Chan

Day 1: Hong Kong’s first national security suspect Tong Ying-kit goes on trial
Day 2: Police fired pepper balls at Tong Ying-kit’s speeding motorbike, court hears
Day 3: Role of police arm shield in Tong Ying-kit crash under question in court
Day 4: ‘I had a feeling’ Tong Ying-kit meant to flee after crashing, says injured policeman
Day 5: Tong Ying-kit’s slogan is about ‘taking back Hong Kong from enemy’, professor tells court
Day 6: Slogan creator Edward Leung wanted to ‘build a nation for Hongkongers’, court told
Day 7: Trial debates Tong Ying-kit’s perception of ‘Liberate Hong Kong’ slogan