Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was ‘mastermind and sponsor’ of foreign lobbying efforts, court hears
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was the “mastermind and sponsor” of a campaign to lobby for foreign sanctions on the city and on China, a government prosecutor argued in the pro-democracy activist’s high-profile national security trial.
Lai appeared before a panel of three hand-picked national security judges on Thursday as the trial entered its sixth day. The 76-year-old, the founder of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, faces one count of publishing “seditious” publications and two counts – punishable by life imprisonment – of conspiring to collude with foreign forces.
The prosecution wrapped up its closing statements on Thursday, going into detail about the second conspiracy offence. The offence involves two other defendants, paralegal Chan Tsz-wah and activist Andy Li as well as other overseas activists. Both Chan and Li pleaded guilty more than two years ago and are on remand awaiting sentencing.
Lead prosecutor Anthony Chau told the trial in the West Kowloon Law Courts Building that the group conspired to request foreign countries to “impose sanctions or blockade, or engage in other hostile activities” against Hong Kong and China.
“[Lai] was the mastermind and financial supporter at the highest level command of the syndicate,” Chau said.
The prosecutor described the chain of command in the syndicate. Lai personally instructed Mark Simon, his US-based personal assistant. Simon, in turn, gave directions to Chan, who instructed Li and Finn Lau, the core members of an international lobbying group called Stand With Hong Kong (SWHK), he said.
When the anti-extradition protests and unrest began in June 2019, Lai learned that activists were planning to publish advertisements in leading newspapers around the world calling for support for Hong Kong’s movement. He pledged to offer HK$5 million in reserve funds through Simon, to be used for publication fees and which would need to be repaid with money later raised in crowdfunding campaigns.
Advertisements appeared in international newspapers in the following months. Chau cited two articles published in August 2019 – one titled “Stand With Hong Kong Until Dawn,” published in Canada’s Globe & Mail, and another titled “Catch Hong Kong As We Fall,” published in the New York Times.
In particular, the New York Times article urged the US to suspend the sale of crowd control equipment and ammunition to the Hong Kong police. It also called on US lawmakers to support the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, a bill that appealed to the US to evaluate Hong Kong’s treatment according to its political developments. The legislation was eventually passed the following month.
Lai, one of the highest-profile people charged under the security legislation, has been detained since December 2020. The activist is currently serving a five years and nine months sentence in Stanley Prison, a maximum security facility, for a separate fraud case.
He pleaded not guilty on Tuesday. The activist stands accused of two counts of conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the Beijing-imposed national security law and one count of publishing “seditious” publications.
‘Stand With Hong Kong’ platform
The newspaper campaign was organised by Stand With Hong Kong, a group that the prosecution said was used as a platform “in furtherance of the conspiracy.”
Its website was formed by Li, Lau and “others” in August 2019, Chau said, and aimed to urge countries to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and China as well as intervene in the alleged police brutality during the protests.
As part of SWHK, Lai transferred HK$500,000 to Li through Simon to organise an “elections observation mission,” in which foreign politicians were invited to Hong Kong to witness the District Council elections. The politicians included the UK-based Lord David Alton and activist Luke de Pulford.
The prosecution displayed a coloured flow chart showing the transfer of money between Lai, Simon, Chan and Li for the various campaigns.
The group was also active on social media, especially Twitter, regularly re-sharing posts by overseas activists and politicians. Chau highlighted a July 2, 2020 retweet in which SWHK shared a post by then-UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab announcing the BN(O) pathway to citizenship for Hongkongers, days after Beijing imposed the national security law.
That same month, the group retweeted a post by the US White House, thanking the US for ending Hong Kong’s special status and imposing tariffs on China.
SWHK had “a view to urging foreign countries to impose sanctions and to engage in hostile activities against the PRC and the HKSAR,” Chau said. The “hostile activities” included urging countries to end their extradition agreements with Hong Kong.
Chan and Li have been held in custody since 2021. Lau left Hong Kong in January 2020 and Simon left in April 2020. Lau is among around more than a dozen overseas activists wanted by Hong Kong national security police.
The prosecution completed its opening statements on Thursday afternoon and the trial was adjourned to Monday.
Lai’s trial, presided over by a panel of handpicked national security judges rather than a jury, is expected to last 80 days.
Globally, the trial has been framed as a bellwether for press freedom in Hong Kong, and representatives from international press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders were among those present on the opening day. In a statement, the watchdog said the “world was watching and will not turn a blind eye to a miscarriage of justice.”
The government has said that law enforcement actions were based on evidence and had “nothing to do with freedom of the press, or the background of any person or organisation.”
Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact Us | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps
Help safeguard press freedom & keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team
