Newspaper man’s case puts the people of Hong Kong on trial
‘An attempt to stop peaceful freedom of expression’
Jimmy Lai, the first defendant ever tried for colluding with foreign forces under Hong Kong’s national security laws, stepped inside the courtroom on Monday as the case opened.
The 76-year-old textile tycoon turned media mogul (inset, below) is accused of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under the Beijing-imposed law that overrides the city’s common law tradition inherited from Britain.
He also faces one count of conspiring to print, publish or distribute “seditious publications”.
Since the clampdown on street protests followed by city-wide surveillance, courtrooms have become the new arena for pro-democracy crowds to display their opposition.
Western nations displayed their support with avid attendance in this and other security cases. The first person in the queue for Lai’s hearing came at 10pm, 12 hours ahead of its commencement.
It was with the knowledge that other sensitive cases were allegedly interrupted by paid pro-beijing groups in a bid to occupy all court seats, effectively closing the trial to the public.
The practice also evolved into acts to support the pro-democracy movement amidst law and censorship. A Hong Konger in the queue, who refused to provide their real name, told The Sunday Post that it was a trial against Hong Kong people more than just Jimmy Lai himself.
Lai entered the courtroom, waving at his supporters, wife and two of his children. His stamina remained strong, at least from appearances, after 1,000 days of pre-trial confinement.
Since 2019, protests have evolved into a battle within the courtrooms, away from streets or organisations. Former executives at Lai’s tabloid newspaper, Apple Daily, including heads of English editorials and column editors were all arrested in 2021, with a view they would testify against Lai to reduce their sentence.
Lai founded Apple Daily, one of the best-selling Hong Kong newspapers, in 1995. Despite its focus on social issues and teams of investigative journalists, it was not immune to controversy.
It was mostly infamous for its paparazzi’s invasion of privacy, dramatised headlines and content, or sometimes false claims which led to dozens of defamation claims. Yet, with newspapers increasingly turning into mouthpieces of the Communist Party, Apple Daily to its last days remained independent from political censorship.
In one major protest in 2019, amid Hong Kong’s months-long pro-democracy street movement, the newspaper fashioned its front page as a protest banner for the masses.
Lai had been an active participant in previous protests and outspoken in his meetings with foreign diplomats.
He had been arrested as early as April 2020, prior to the enactment of the national security law, in relation to his role in a landmark peaceful demonstration in August 2019.
He faced his first charge, organising an unauthorised assembly, which would be followed by many others.
Apple Daily closed on June 24 2021 and printed a record million copies for readers who queued outside street stalls overnight to anticipate the last edition that was delivered at 5 am, still warm from the printing presses.
Lai’s case is being heard by a panel of three among a pool of designated national security judges hand-picked by the city’s leader, in absence of a jury, after three years of almost solitary imprisonment.
His favoured lawyer, Londonbased barrister Tim Owen KC, was unable to apply for a visa to defend his case after the city’s intervention with overnight executive orders.
While the case proceeded, on the eve of the trial, the UK’S Foreign Office released a statement that described the national security law as a clear breach of the Sino-british Joint Declaration that was signed by former prime minister Margaret Thatcher and then Chinese State Council premier Zhao Ziyang in 1984.
It promised that Hong Kong could operate under the “One Country, Two Systems” policy, maintain a high degree of autonomy and its status quo for at least 50 years from its handover to China in 1997. Less than half way through the period, Chinese authorities denounced the document as having no legal impact nor practical significance.
In his statement, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron also expressed grave concern for individuals prosecuted under the national security law, urged the authorities to release all put behind bars under relevant charges including Lai, repeal the law and, most of all, end their prosecution against Lai.
“As a prominent and outspoken journalist and publisher, Jimmy Lai has been targeted in a clear attempt to stop the peaceful exercise of his rights to freedom of expression and association,” the statement read.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called Lai a “major mastermind” of the opposition.
“He is an agent and pawn of the anti-china forces, and the person behind the riots in Hong Kong,” Wang said at a ministry press conference on the first day of the trial.
Lai, with knowledge that his opposition could be the last, wasted no words to describe his significance in the movements.
Rather, weeks ahead of the district election that in effect only allowed pro-beijing candidates to run after an electoral reform, his exiled third son, Sebastien, released a statement.
It read: “My father displayed a strong sense of determination of Greater China deicing its own deeds,” adding that the “honorary citizenship to Hong Kong the very freedoms and rights that form the basis of our way of life here in the UK.”