Some of us are Hong Kong lawyers who were in NSL defence. Somehow, we find the procedural changes proposed under Article 23 more terrifying than the new proposed offences. It’s like the government is simply writing the police’s and prosecution’s wishlist into law.

Maybe it’s because the NSL is way overbroad already, whereas we can visualize immediate, visceral damage brought by these procedural changes. They include: extending the period of police detention – this can rule out the availability of bail completely, without any review.

Blocking arrestees from consulting with particular lawyers – given the dwindling number of lawyers willing to take on the government, arrestees could be left completely isolated in the jaws of the state.

“Eliminating certain procedures” to ensure “timely trials” – we have seen in the Apple Daily and “NSL 47” cases how this is code for pressuring the defence into giving up their rights, while allowing the prosecution every indulgence.

Eliminating remission for people convicted of national security offences – meaning they will end up serving a sentence which is one-third LONGER than the same sentence for a non-national security matter.

Act 1 (2020-07 to 2021-10): quash civil society with the NSL. Act 2 (2021-10 to 2024-01): maintain status quo with the sedition law. Act 3 (2024-01 to -): kill off any semblance of normalcy.

From the point of view of an arrestee, who could be just about anyone, being in police detention for an indefinite period of time without access (not even the theoretical right) to a single person you trust is a terrifying prospect.