HK ACTIVISTS BACK IN COURT AFTER 14-HOUR HEARING

Defense lawyers struggled to submit bail applications overnight and into early Tuesday, as proceedings resumed against a group of 47 high-profile democracy activists in Hong Kong who had already spent 14 hours in the dock the day before, Lisa Jane Harding reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

Local media footage showed Joshua Wong, perhaps the most high-profile defendant, being escorted back to court at around 7:30 am (2330 GMT on Monday). Court then resumed at 11:30 am.

The 47 are charged with conspiring to subvert state power, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. All are violations of Hong Kong's controversial national security law, which went into effect last year.

The charges are related to an unofficial primary election in July dubbed "Democrat Camp 35+ Primary Election." The advocates had hoped to pick strong candidates so they could take a majority in the city's legislature, the Legislative Council, so they could veto legislation.

"The arduous 14-hour hearing was a joke and a testament to the prosecution's lack of preparation and absurd attempt to lock [the 47] up with no real legal basis," Avery Ng, vice-chair of League of Social Democrats (LSD), two members of which, Jimmy Sham and Leung Kwok-hung, are detained.

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