The trial of 72-year-old current-affairs commentator Wong On-yin opened at the District Court on 9 October 2026. He pleaded not guilty to obstructing an investigation into a national-security offence and knowingly publishing a seditious publication, and chose to represent himself.
After the Tai Po fire, police invited Wong to assist with an investigation. The prosecution said that in early December 2025 he and others planned a press conference about the fire, and that officers from the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force met him at a police station.
The prosecution alleges that Wong later posted two videos on YouTube disclosing details of the meeting and the questioning. The alleged disclosure is at the centre of the obstruction charge; the separate publication charge concerns material alleged to have seditious intent.
i-CABLE reported that police were using section 88 of the national-security ordinance for the obstruction-of-investigation offence for the first time. The prosecution said it must prove that Wong knew or suspected an investigation into a national-security offence was under way, and that he disclosed information recklessly without reasonable excuse.