[12] Before the primaries were held, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang warned that they might violate the new Beijing-imposed national security law, specifically its clauses prohibiting secession, subversion and collusion with foreign powers.

He added that vetoing the budget would not constitute "seriously interfering in, disrupting, or undermining the performance of duties and functions" of the government under Article 22 of the new law because the chief executive has the power to dismiss the legislature and call a by-election.

[14] Chief Executive Carrie Lam issued a strong warning to the candidates and organisers of the primaries, saying it was subversive for them to vow to seize control of the legislature and vote down key government proposals.

It named Benny Tai as a suspect in a possible breach of the national security law by coordinating with the opposition camp to seek control of the legislature, vote down the budget, paralyse the government and subvert the state power.

In the operations, the police arrested 55 men and women[a] including activists, former legislators, social workers and academics who organised or contested in the primaries across the pro-democracy spectrum on suspicion of "subversion of state power" under the national security law.

[23] According to Secretary for Security John Lee, the arrestees were accused of "subverting state power" for holding the primaries and were suspected of attempting to gain a majority in the Legislative Council with the goal of paralysing the government.

[28] Holden Chow, member of the Legislative Council for the largest pro-Beijing party, DAB, said in a tweet that those arrested had violated the national security law because they had a "clear aim to paralyze" the local government and were threatening to "remove the Chinese sovereignty over Hong Kong.

[31] Civic Party chairman Alan Leong criticised the mass arrests as he could not see why those who promised to exercise their power to veto budgets – as outlined in the Basic Law – would be considered subversive.

"[34] Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying defended the arrests, saying that they were needed to stop "external forces and individuals [colluding] to undermine China's stability and security".

[35] Before the trial, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Xia Baolong singled out three pro-democracy activists charged with the national security law, Joshua Wong, Jimmy Lai and Benny Tai, saying they were "extremely wicked" and "must be severely punished for their illegal actions.

Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu described the arrests in Hong Kong as a "deep shock to those who treasure freedom" and called on the world to "unite against authoritarianism.

[40] Antony Blinken, US President-elect Joe Biden's pick for Secretary of State, said the arrests were "an assault on those bravely advocating for universal rights" launched by the Chinese authorities.

[58] Amnesty International Hong Kong program manager Lam Cho Ming warned that an extended hearing "along with insufficient time to rest could potentially violate the right to a fair trial.

Before the trial started at 12 pm, the live broadcast system showed the problem of not being able to hear the conversation or voice in the court again, causing the family members to question the "secret interrogation."

"[63] Chief Magistrate Victor So refused the plea on the grounds that the general public or the press may not be able to determine whether a statement made in court fell under the scope of "legal argument," causing citizens to accidentally breach the restrictions, which would be "a bit dangerous for them".

[129] League of Social Democrats, one of the last active pro-democracy groups, organised a small protest under a heavy police presence, decrying the crackdown as "shameless" and calling for the release of all political prisoners.

[130] The key issue of this case is whether the defendants reached an agreement to indiscriminately veto the budget in order to force the dissolution of Legislative Council and the resignation of Chief Executive, which amounts to "subversion".

[131] Prosecutors told the West Kowloon Magistrates Court that the accused had conspired to seriously interfere, disrupt or undermine the duties and functions of the Hong Kong government, "with a view to subverting the state power".

An amended filing revealed the prosecution had dropped one accusation that the group intended to use "the threat of force", a change noted in court by Gwyneth Ho, one of the defendants.

[9] The court also heard that four people who are to plead guilty, Au Nok-hin, Andrew Chiu, Ben Chung, Mike Lam, will give evidence as witnesses for the prosecution.

[143] Chiu and Chung echoed Au, agreeing all coordination were completed by 9 June, the date for the press conference announcing the primaries, as the final version of the agreements were considered by Tai as the "consensuses" between candidates.

[144] These documents, however, were not publicised as organisers were concerned of potential disqualification by the authorities and the rumoured implementation of the national security law after Au and Chiu convinced Tai.

[142] Kowloon East and New Territories West candidates submitted an additional, voluntary (disputed by Sze Tak-loy's attorney)[144] "consensual principles" (Chinese: 共同綱領) document attached with nomination forms which was similar to the "coordination agreement".

[137] Au admitted the organisers had already lost the authority to stop the localists, and revealed that Wu Chi-wai, chairman of Democratic Party, refrained from signing that document despite eventually giving in to pressure.

Chiu, during testimony, said Tai once confirmed the campaign was not directly linked to the primaries, and claimed he was personally concerned Ng's petition might violate election laws.

[141][144] Au said the pro-democracy camp was divided in two groups, one advocating negotiations by winning a majority in the chamber, another pushed for "lam chau" to force the government to concede and to break the impasse in despair.

[138] When asked by the judge, Chiu said "localists" focus on local cultures and values but do not go as far as advocating independence, but the "anti-government" "resistance camp" only formed after the primaries and were unsatisfied with the traditional democrats.

He was invited by Leung Ka-shing of People's Power to sit in a coordination meeting, and decided to record it because he suspected Tai's idea could be illegal and the footage could allow him to "study" further.

Three other cops confirmed Apple Daily, Stand News, and Independent Media handed in documents related to advertisement of the primaries as ordered by the law enforcement.

[155] In the eighth week the prosecutors accused two individuals whose names did not appear in the indictment nor arrested as co-conspirators, then Kwun Tong District Council chairman Choy Chak-hung, who was involved in the coordination, and Luke Lai.