Lawyers for Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai have said they will argue the tycoon has no case to answer in his national security trial, in which he faces three conspiracy charges involving foreign collusion and sedition.
Senior Counsel Robert Pang, representing Lai, said on Monday that the defence would contend that the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient to support the tycoon’s conviction. He asked the court for time to prepare a “no case to answer” written submission.
Pang raised the matter before the prosecution began playing Lai’s past interviews with overseas media outlets and a talk show named “Live Chat with Jimmy Lai” on Apple Daily’s platforms per the defence’s request. The prosecution had said those interviews were evidence that Lai urged foreign countries to impose sanctions against Hong Kong and China in the wake of the 2019 pro-democracy protests and unrest.
Lai, 76, 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.
Prosecutors allege that Lai used his now-closed Apple Daily newspaper to instigate foreign sanctions and other “hostile acts,” as well as bring the public into hatred against Hong Kong and mainland authorities.
The tycoon is also said to have financed and instructed the “Stand with Hong Kong” (SWHK) advocacy group to take part in an anti-China conspiracy after Beijing imposed the security law in June 2020.
The footage from Lai’s media interviews and his talk show, which total about 25 hours and will be played in full at the defence’s request, are expected to take a week before the prosecution closes their case.
Media interviews
Among the clips played on Monday was an interview with Taiwanese media personality Jaw Shaw-kong from May 2020, in which Lai was asked whether he had been under the influence of foreign countries such as the UK and the US.
“I would very much like foreign countries to influence us, as their support is vital [for our campaign],” he said in Mandarin in a video interview.
“But to say they told us what to do, is that even possible?” Lai added.
In an interview with US outlet Fox Business dated July 1, 2020, Lai described what he saw as a “sea change” after the enactment of the security law. He said Hong Kong would lose its status as an international financial hub.
Lai also discussed how Hong Kong’s protests would continue despite the security law in two episodes of “Live Chat with Jimmy Lai” from July and August 2020. In the August episode, Lai was joined by ex-Next Digital director Mark Clifford and ex-director of the American Institute in Taiwan Raymond Burghardt.
National security police
Earlier in Monday’s hearing, the prosecution concluded their re-examination of Detective Station Sergeant Lai Kwok-yung, who had visited ex-Apple Daily executive Cheung Kim-hung and activist Chan Tsz-wah in custody. Both of them were charged in the case and have since pleaded guilty and testified as a prosecution witness against Lai.
The court previously heard that sergeant Lai, who is from the police’s National Security Department, spent over three hours visiting Cheung in prison in November 2021. The police officer, who denied persuading Cheung to be a prosecution witness, said he talked to Cheung about his life in detention.
The sergeant said on Monday that he visited Cheung in the Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre, where Cheung was remanded in custody, to pass him a court judgement that his application for bail had been denied.
He said Cheung fell silent after reading the judgement. Staying and chatting with him was a “humanised” way of handling the situation, Lai added.
The defence also said they would not call more police officers involved in Lai’s case to testify as they had received new information from the prosecution.
Esther Toh, one of the three judges presiding over the case, estimated the court would hear the defence’s submission that they have no case to answer towards the end of June.
A successful submission would mean that the media mogul is ruled not guilty.
Monday marked the 79th day of Lai’s trial, which was slated to last for 80 days when it began last December.
When the trial resumes on Tuesday, the defence is expected to cross-examine Chow Kam-pui, a University of Hong Kong computer science professor. Chow, acting as an expert witness in the trial, earlier prepared a report explaining the functions of various messaging and social media platforms.
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