Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai trial scheduled to hear closing arguments in late July

Hong Kong Free Press

The national security trial of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai is expected to hear closing arguments in late July, with proceedings now adjourned for both parties to prepare for their submissions.

Hong Kong police patrol the West Kowloon Law Courts Building on November 20, 2024, the first day of Jimmy Lai’s testimony in his national security trial. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

Three judges presiding over the high-profile national security trial tentatively set July 28 for both parties to begin their closing arguments. They earmarked eight days for the hearings.

Lai, 77, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the Beijing-imposed national security law, and a third count of conspiring to publish seditious materials under colonial-era legislation. He faces life behind bars if convicted.

The founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy tabloid Apply Daily returned to the defendant’s dock on Friday after wrapping up his 52 days of testimony the previous day.

Lai’s lawyers told the court on Friday – the 145th day since the trial began in December 2023 – that the defence had closed their case.

Defence lawyer Jon Wong, representing three companies linked to the operation of Apple Daily, also closed his case after handling technical matters.

Prosecutors suggested that both parties have six weeks in turn to prepare for their submissions, which the judges granted.

Both parties would have another month to prepare legal arguments, but the defence’s previous challenge on the legality of the sedition offence will be dropped following the Court of Final Appeal’s ruling on jailed activist Tam Tak-chi on Thursday.

The top court upheld the conviction and sentence of Tam, nicknamed “Fast Beat,” who was jailed for 40 months over 11 counts of sedition in April 2022.

“There will be [a] legal submission… but no constitutional submission as such,” Robert Pang, one of Lai’s counsels, told the court on Friday.

Headquarters of Next Digital. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

Pang also said that he would be involved in the appeals of 14 pro-democracy figures scheduled for mid-July. The 14 were among 45 convicted of conspiracy to commit subversion last year – the largest national security trial in Hong Kong – over an unofficial primary in 2020.

Judges granted the July 28 date to avoid the clash of schedules.

The court also heard that Lai had an outstanding loan of HK$650 million to Next Digital, the parent company of Apple Daily, as of November 2020.

The court will convene again next Tuesday to hear the judges’ directions for the closing arguments from both parties. Lai will not attend the hearing.

The tycoon has been behind bars for over 1,500 days and is currently serving a five-year-and-nine-month prison term over a separate fraud case.

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.