• 02/05/2025

Judges tell Jimmy Lai to ‘contain’ his emotions after tycoon’s fiery remarks in nat. security trial

Hong Kong Free Press

Jimmy Lai.

Three Hong Kong judges overseeing the national security trial of Jimmy Lai have asked the jailed media tycoon to calm down and restrict himself to answering questions after he issued a fiery criticism against prosecutors in the witness box.

Jimmy Lai
Jimmy Lai in 2020. File photo: HKFP.

High Court Judge Esther Toh told Lai on Tuesday to refrain from making any unnecessary statements as the 77-year-old appeared to have lost his temper with prosecutors’ questioning, saying: “You are putting words in my mouth again… you are so free of shame, integrity…”

“Mr Lai… I will not allow in my court a witness to criticise unnecessarily counsels asking questions,” Toh said as she raised her voice to interrupt the tycoon, whose oral testimony entered the 35th day on Tuesday.

Judges Alex Lee and Susana D’Almada Remedios told Lai that prosecutors had to present their allegations to him and that he could have simply indicated his disagreement instead of airing such criticism.

“I understand you may not like the way they put their case to you – you may be riled, excited, emotional, but you should understand they are obliged to do so,” Remedios added. “Please, try your best to contain your emotion.”

‘A courtesy’

The exchange came as prosecutor Anthony Chau was examining Lai’s connection with paralegal-turned-activist Chan Tsz-wah, who was charged alongside the tycoon but had earlier testified against him.

Lai, who founded the now-shuttered Apple Daily tabloid, has pleaded not guilty to three conspiracy charges relating to foreign collusion and sedition. He could be jailed for life if convicted.

The court previously heard Lai was introduced to Chan by democrat Martin Lee in 2019, as the city was embroiled in large-scale pro-democracy protests and unrest, and that the tycoon wanted Chan to help “pacify” violent protesters.

Chan Tsz-wah
Chan Tsz-wah speaking at a Legislative Council panel meeting in 2016. File photo: Legislative Council live feed.

But Chau highlighted WhatsApp messages between the pair from December 2019, when Chan told Lai that he was going to London and asked if there was “anyone you want me to meet.”

In response to Chan’s message, Lai offered to link him up with UK-based human rights activist Benedict Rogers, whom the tycoon described as “a very fervent [Hong Kong] freedom fighter and supporter.” The tycoon added in the message that Rogers might bring the UK’s House of Lords member David Alton to that meeting.

The prosecutor suggested that Lai made the offer because he wanted Chan to engage in international lobbying campaigns at that time to request foreign sanctions against Hong Kong in the wake of the protests.

Lai denied that and said he was merely returning a favour to Chan after seeking his help. “In this case when he asked me to help, should I not do it as a courtesy?” he said.

Chau drew the court’s attention to articles Rogers sent to Lai via WhatsApp in November 2019, including an op-ed Rogers wrote that was published in American news magazine Time, in which the activist called on the US to stand with Hong Kong protesters by imposing “Magnitsky sanctions” on “the violators of human rights.”

Benedict Rogers
Benedict Rogers. File photo: Facebook/Hong Kong Cultural & Political Forum.

Lai said he “seldom” read the articles Rogers sent him and that he was not aware at that time of the activist’s calling for the US and the UK to impose sanctions against Hong Kong and China. The tycoon maintained that he only knew Rogers had been “speaking out” for Hong Kong people such as by staging demonstrations and hunger strikes in London.

Chau also pointed to an Apple Daily column Lai wrote himself, in which the tycoon said he met with “valiant” protesters – referring to the frontline protesters who used non-peaceful means during the months-long pro-democracy unrest – and was impressed by their spirit of “martyrdom.”

‘Acquiring political power’

In another text message from January 2020, Lai’s aide Mark Simon told him that Chan was able to bring together the Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council and the protesters engaging in international advertisement campaigns to reduce a “competing set of voices in DC.”

In court, Lai denied that Chan was engaging in international lobbying and maintained that Simon only told him this “for my information.”

James Cunningham, the former US Consul General for Hong Kong and Macau between 2005 and 2008. Photo: THE COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM IN HONG KONG FOUNDATION
James Cunningham, the former US Consul General for Hong Kong and Macau between 2005 and 2008. Photo: The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation.

The court also heard that, in a WhatsApp group message dated November 2019, former US consul general in Hong Kong James Cunningham said the landslide victory of the pro-democracy camp in the 2019 District Council election should not be seen as “ a validation of continued violence in demonstrations.”

“The goal should be acquiring political power over the establishment and bringing elements of it along,” Cunningham added in the message.

Lai told the court he agreed with Cunningham’s idea and that he had wanted veteran democrats in the city to become part of a leadership that could regulate the actions of the radical protesters.

“But it’s actually impossible when you come to think about it, [the protesters] would never allow it,” he said.

The trial continues on Wednesday.

Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.

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https://hongkongfp.com/2025/02/04/judges-tells-jimmy-lai-to-contain-his-emotions-after-tycoons-fiery-remarks-in-nat-security-trial/