Former Hong Kong opposition lawmaker Albert Ho granted bail while facing national security charge after serving jail time for illegal assembly- Former vice-chairman of now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China was jailed in May 2021 over previous offence
- The 70-year-old left High Court in Admiralty at 5.20pm and entered private seven-seater car without speaking to mediaFormer Hong Kong opposition lawmaker Albert Ho Chun-yan was on Monday released on bail while facing a national security charge laid against him when he was serving time behind bars for unlawful assembly.
While serving that sentence, he was charged by national security police with inciting others to subvert state power. Ho would have been released last month if not for the national security charge. He had also previously applied for full bail and one-day bail to attend medical checks as he was diagnosed with cancer about six years ago.
The nine conditions set on him include cash bail of HK$700,000 (US$89,211), surety from two personal guarantees of HK$200,000, as well as reporting to the Police three times a week.
He cannot leave Hong Kong, and must hand over all travel documents, observe a nighttime curfew, and live at his current address or notify police before changing it.
He must not directly or indirectly, in any way, make, distribute or reprint any speech or behaviour that may be regarded as violating the national security law or crimes endangering national security under Hong Kong legislation.
He must not contact foreign officials, parliamentarians, members of parliament of any rank, or other people serving the above in any way, directly or indirectly.
Ho, a lawyer by profession, served as a legislator for about two decades between 1995 and 2016, and chaired the Democratic Party, Hong Kong’s biggest opposition group, from 2006 to 2012.
In 2012, he ran in the chief executive election against Henry Tang Ying-yen and Leung Chun-ying, who won.
In May last year, he was among a group of opposition figures sentenced over their role in an illegal rally on National Day in 2019.
(Extracted from SCMP)#20220822NEWS #HKAlliance #AlbertHO