Latest news with #Jimmy Lai
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong court challenges Jimmy Lai's rights claims in national security trial
Two Hong Kong judges hearing Jimmy Lai Chee-ying's national security trial have expressed reservations about the defence characterising the former media boss's alleged endeavours to trigger Western sanctions and foster hatred towards authorities as a legitimate exercise of fundamental rights. The 77-year-old Apple Daily tabloid founder's legal team on Wednesday started presenting its closing arguments at West Kowloon Court after the prosecution made their final remarks in his case of conspiracies to print seditious publications and collude with foreign forces. Senior counsel Robert Pang Yiu-hung opened his speech by hitting out at what he saw as prosecutors' attempt to 'denigrate' human rights and dismiss it as 'an alien concept'. 'You can't force someone to think in one way or another,' the lawyer said. 'Nor is it wrong to hope that the government would change its policies, whether through its own internal review or through suggestion or even pressure, whether from inside Hong Kong or out.' Madam Justice Esther Toh Lye-ping, one of three presiding High Court judges, said the charges were not as simple as that.
Malay Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
Defence begins closing arguments in Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai trial
HONG KONG, Aug 20 — A lawyer representing Jimmy Lai said Wednesday it was 'not wrong to support freedom of expression' as the defence began closing arguments in the jailed Hong Kong media mogul's national security trial. The 77-year-old founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper has contested two counts of foreign collusion, with authorities accusing him of using various platforms to lobby Western nations to sanction China and Hong Kong. The charges are brought under the city's national security law, which Beijing imposed in 2020 after the finance hub saw huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests the year before. Defence lawyer Robert Pang told the court it was 'not wrong' to support freedom of expression and human rights. 'It is not wrong to try to persuade the government to change its policy... Nor is it wrong not to love a particular administration, or even the country,' he added. Aside from the collusion offence — which could land him in prison for life — Lai is also charged with 'seditious publication' related to 161 articles, including op-eds carrying his byline. Pang began his closing arguments by pointing to three Apple Daily news articles that prosecutors deemed seditious. 'It's factual reporting,' he said, adding that the 161 items made up a tiny fraction of the newspaper's output. But judge Esther Toh countered that it was 'pointless' to play a numbers game, adding that the judges had already gone through the articles carefully. 'Not credible' testimony Earlier in the day, prosecutor Anthony Chau challenged Lai's courtroom testimony — which spanned more than 50 days — as 'not credible'. The portrayal of Apple Daily as a 'neutral defender of Hong Kong's core values' was 'utterly misleading', Chau told judges. '(Lai) and Apple Daily were anti-communist for many years,' he said, adding that the tycoon 'glorified violence, mutual destruction and martyrdom against the (Chinese Communist Party) regime'. The prosecutor also pointed to a trove of communications, some on WhatsApp, that allegedly tied Lai to political figures in the United States and a plan to lobby for Western sanctions against China and Hong Kong around the time of the 2019 protests. '(Lai) was clearly a betrayer of national interests,' he said, wrapping up his case after two and half days. Lai was attentive during Wednesday's hearing, waving and gesturing to family and supporters in the public gallery when he entered the courtroom. The septuagenarian was outfitted with a heart rate monitor and prescribed medication after the defence said last week that Lai was experiencing heart palpitations. Concerns have been raised previously over Lai's health by his family and rights groups. The media tycoon has been kept behind bars since December 2020, reportedly in solitary confinement, and has lost weight during that time. The Hong Kong government has said Lai was receiving 'adequate and comprehensive' medical care, with a senior medical officer earlier declaring him 'physically and mentally fit for court'. — AFP
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's Jimmy Lai used false Beijing portrayal to urge West to act, court hears
Former Hong Kong media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying deliberately fabricated a negative image of Beijing to create an excuse for Western interference, prosecutors have said, accusing him of having a 'resolute' intent to press on with his efforts even after the national security law took effect five years ago. Advertisement West Kowloon Court on Tuesday resumed hearing the prosecution's closing remarks in the marathon national security trial of the Apple Daily founder, who is contesting three conspiracy counts of printing seditious publications and colluding with foreign forces. 'If we look at the totality of [Lai's] remarks as a whole, we can see … [he] tried to create a false impression [of the country] so that the external elements can punish the Chinese and Hong Kong governments,' he said. Advertisement
Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Times
US and UK must turn up heat on China over Jimmy Lai trial
Jimmy Lai has been charged under the same national security laws that he once dubbed 'a death knell for Hong Kong' and against which his tabloid newspaper, Apple Daily, had campaigned VINCENT YU/AP If courage has a representative, his name is Jimmy Lai. The 77-year-old media magnate and British citizen has been imprisoned for more than 1,600 days, a prolonged ordeal which began with his arrest in 2020 over his role in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. He appeared in court on Friday to hear the closing arguments in the case brought against him by the authorities. Within a short time, however, the court was adjourned over Mr Lai's ill health. It will resume on Monday. The newspaper proprietor has been charged under the same national security laws that he once dubbed 'a death knell for Hong Kong' and against which his tabloid newspaper, Apple Daily, had campaigned. The prosecutors allege collusion with foreign powers — potentially carrying a life sentence — and that he published seditious articles intended to incite hatred or contempt towards the Beijing or Hong Kong governments. Mr Lai vigorously denies the charges, contending that he was peacefully exercising and supporting freedom of speech, as protected under the Basic Law agreed when the territory passed from British to Chinese rule in 1997. After years of delay Mr Lai's national security trial began in December 2023. From November last year he gave evidence in his own defence for a gruelling 50 days. Onlookers might reasonably conclude that the dragged-out process has become part of the intended punishment for public dissent. And although Mr Lai's spirit clearly remains undiminished, his body is increasingly weak: he suffers from diabetes and a heart condition and his family fear that under continuing detention, which has been spent in solitary confinement, his health is rapidly deteriorating. • Refugee to riches: the brash billionaire who took on Beijing (and is now in jail) In earlier days Mr Lai could have chosen to leave Hong Kong to protect himself from vengeful persecution. That he didn't is testament to his strength of character and the depth of his belief in democracy. It is a source of regret that some British judges, who still sit in Hong Kong's court of final appeal, have not displayed the same intellectual and moral clarity. One of them, Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, a former president of the UK's Supreme Court, served on a judicial panel which last year upheld the conviction of Mr Lai and other pro-democracy activists on a previous charge related to a peaceful protest in 2019. The argument that British judges could help to prop up an embattled legal system in Hong Kong has gradually crumbled in the face of Beijing's growing authoritarianism. Now their presence more resembles a gilded façade on a process riddled with rot. Lord Sumption, who resigned from the court last year, concluded that the rule of law in the territory was 'profoundly compromised' and that it was 'slowly becoming a totalitarian state'. Mr Lai's supporters, however, must not give up hope. He has recently referred to himself as a 'political prisoner' and it is through political pressure that he has the greatest hope of release. President Trump's recent promise to do 'everything I can' to help Mr Lai is a welcome one, which may carry particular weight at a time when increased US tariffs on Chinese goods hang in the balance. Sir Keir Starmer, too, raised the case in his first meeting with President Xi last year. The US and UK should intensify this pressure by every means possible. Mr Lai has taken great personal risks to defend the principles of democracy. Democrats must now stand up for him.
Free Malaysia Today
14-08-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Hong Kong court postpones closing arguments in Jimmy Lai trial
Jimmy Lai described himself at least twice as a 'political prisoner', which drew sharp rebukes from the three-judge panel. (AFP pic) HONG KONG : A court hearing for jailed Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was postponed today due to bad weather, further lengthening a national security trial that began in 2023. The city's weather observatory hoisted the highest-level rainstorm warning for around three hours this morning, leading the judiciary to cancel hearings for the day. The 77-year-old founder of the Apple Daily newspaper is charged with foreign collusion under Hong Kong's national security law, which Beijing imposed following huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019. Today, lawyers were expected to present closing arguments as Lai's trial enters its final stages. The judiciary said today that those due to attend postponed hearings should return on Friday. The media tycoon has been kept behind bars since December 2020, reportedly in solitary confinement, with Western nations and rights groups calling for his release. Aside from the collusion offence – which could land him in prison for life – Lai is also charged with 'seditious publication' related to 161 op-eds he allegedly wrote. The tycoon gave spirited courtroom testimony over more than 50 days during the trial, fielding questions about his political ideology, management style and overseas contacts. Lai described himself at least twice as a 'political prisoner', which drew sharp rebukes from the three-judge panel. Hong Kong authorities have repeatedly rejected criticism related to Lai, saying last month that his case was 'handled strictly on the basis of evidence and in accordance with the law'. Antoine Bernard of Reporters Without Borders said on Tuesday that Lai's treatment 'exposes the authorities' ruthless determination to silence and suppress one of the most prominent advocates for press freedom amid Hong Kong's rapidly deteriorating media landscape'. Judges had previously indicated that a verdict could be reached by October. Today was the fifth time this year that Hong Kong issued the 'black' rainstorm warning, beating the previous record of three such warnings in a year.
