The 15-day trial is conducted without a jury, which is very different from the common law tradition of the financial center. Three judges carefully selected by the city’s leaders will decide on national security crimes.
The judgment will provide clues to how the Hong Kong judiciary interprets Beijing’s broad national security laws and whether the courts in this semi-autonomous city will become more like the courts of authoritarian mainland China.
More than 60 people have been charged under the law, including some of the city’s most well-known democracy activists, such as Jimmy, the owner of the now-defunct Apple Daily.
Most of the accused are now in prison awaiting trial.
The prosecution argued that the former waiter Tong is pursuing a “political agenda” and causing “great harm” to society, thus violating the threshold of terrorism.
The prosecutor said that the flag he was flying promoted Hong Kong’s independence and was therefore a separatist.
He also faces charges of dangerous driving.
