BREAKING: Jimmy Lai appeal judge, UK’s David Neuberger, withdraws from media freedom NGO’s advisory panel
Hong Kong Free Press
A UK judge who was among a panel who denied media tycoon Jimmy Lai and six other democrats an appeal over a 2019 protest on Monday has withdrawn from his position on an advisory board to an international press freedom NGO.
David Neuberger – an Overseas Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal – was chair of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom at the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI). The panel advises the Media Freedom Coalition, which seeks to “promote media freedom through advocacy, diplomatic interventions, legal reforms, events and funding,” according to its website.
In a statement published by IBAHRI on Thursday, Neuberger thanked the panel and said a successor would be announced in due course: “Some months ago, I had raised the possibility of standing down as Chair of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, not least because I would shortly have been in post for five years, but also because of concern expressed about my position as a non-permanent Judge in Hong Kong.”
“I have now concluded that I should go now, because it is undesirable that focus on my position as a non-permanent Judge in Hong Kong should take away, or distract, from the critical and impactful work of the High Level Panel,” he wrote.
HKFP revealed on Wednesday that the British judge had informed the coalition that he was rethinking his position. He did not respond to HKFP’s enquiries.
Jimmy Lai and democrats’ appeal
On Monday, democracy figures Martin Lee, Margaret Ng, Jimmy Lai, Albert Ho, Lee Cheuk-yan, “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung and Cyd Ho lost an appeal to overturn their convictions for knowingly taking part in an unauthorised assembly on August 18, 2019. Neuberger was on the panel of judges who unanimously rejected the democrats’ argument that their conviction was disproportionate to the protection of their basic human rights.
On Tuesday, the Hong Kong government expressed its support for the top court’s decision. Hong Kong citizens have the right to “peaceful assembly and procession conducted in accordance with the law,” a statement read. “That said, these rights must be exercised in conformity with the relevant legislation to ensure the safeguarding of national security, public order, public safety and the protection of the rights and freedom of others.”
Aside from the protest case, Jimmy Lai, founder of Hong Kong’s defunct Apple Daily newspaper and a high-profile supporter of the city’s democracy movement, has been accused of violating the Beijing-imposed national security law. If convicted, he faces life in prison. The 76-year-old is on trial for two counts of taking part in a “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” under the security legislation, and also for conspiring to publish “seditious” materials.
In June, Neuberger told Reuters that he would remain as a top court judge “to support the rule of law in Hong Kong, as best I can.” That month, British judges Jonathan Sumption and Lawrence Collins resigned from the apex court, with the latter citing the “political situation” and Sumption in a newspaper article making strong criticism of Hong Kong’s judicial system. Judges Robert Reed and Patrick Hodge resigned in March 2022.
The UK’s Independent newspaper launched a frontpage campaign for the judge to withdraw from the Court of Final Appeal on Wednesday.
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