BREAKING: Hong Kong court rejects media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s bid to halt national security trial
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s bid to halt the national security trial against him has been rejected by the city’s Court of First Instance.
A panel of three High Court judges – Esther Toh, Susana D’Almada Remedios, and Alex Lee – ruled on Monday against Lai’s application for a permanent stay of proceedings.
Lai, 75, filed an application to halt his trial last year, with his representative, Senior Counsel Robert Pang, presenting the arguments for its termination in court on May 2. Pang argued that blocking Lai’s overseas lawyer, King’s Counsel Timothy Owen, from representing him in the trial was “persecution not prosecution.“
Pang also said that there was a lack of transparency in the appointment of national security judges, including whether the city’s chief justice was consulted by the chief executive about the appointments.
Cases under the Beijing-imposed national security law and colonial-era sedition law have to be handled by a group of designated national security magistrates and judges appointed by the chief executive.
A “fair-minded” person may hold the perception that designated judges would prefer “not to rock the boat,” Pang said.
“In order to have an effective court, we have to have a court that is trusted, if there is any question about the independence and impartiality of the court… that cannot be allowed.”
National security trial
Lai, who founded defunct pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, originally faced a total of four charges under the sweeping security legislation and the sedition law. He stands accused of two counts of conspiring to collude with foreign forces and one offence linked to allegedly seditious publications.
His other charge of collusion with foreign forces has been saved on court files, meaning that – while the prosecution reserve the right to prosecute – they cannot do so without a judge’s permission.
Lai has been detained since December 2020, and was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison last October in a separate fraud case.
The national security trial against the media mogul will resume in September this year.
Lai sought to hire Owen last year, with the Court of First Instance approving Owen’s admission application last October. Lai’s attempt to hire Owen sparked debate on whether foreign lawyers not qualified to practise in Hong Kong were allowed to take part in the city’s national security cases.
The government lodged three failed attempts from bar Owen from the trial. Chief Executive John Lee then invited Beijing to intervene following the top court ruling.
The Standing Committee for the National People’s Congress (NPCSC) passed an interpretation of the sweeping security legislation last December following Lee’s invitation, which stipulated that Hong Kong courts had to request a certificate from the chief executive on the matter.
If the courts failed to obtain certification from the chief executive, then the city’s Committee for Safeguarding National Security would have to step in, according to the NPCSC decision.
Following the interpretation, the national security committee decided in a private meeting that Owen’s admission would harm national security, and advised the director of immigration to deny any further visa applications from Owen for the case.
The national security committee decision was upheld by the High Court on May 19, after Lai filed a legal bid to challenge it.
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