Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s national security trial enters second day, lawyers plan to continue push for dismissal of sedition charge
Some foreign consulate representatives arrived at around 9am, with Isidor Nikolic, the deputy consul general of Austria being the first to show up, followed by Sapphire Le Sage, head of political and communications from the British consulate.
On Monday, at least 10 consulate representatives, including from the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Switzerland attended the first day of the hearing.
All eyes on Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai as national security trial begins
Lai’s wife Teresa Li-Lai Wan-kam, son Augustin Lai Zhun-yan and daughter Claire Lai Choi were also seen in court again on Tuesday morning.
Lai’s lawyers, led by Robert Pang Yiu-hung SC, on Monday argued that the prosecution had passed the time limit for charging him, as a colonial-era sedition law stated that charges must be laid within six months of the alleged offence, which involved suspected seditious publications spanning from April 1, 2019, to June 24, 2021.
Pang pointed out that Lai was only brought before court for the first time on December 28, 2021, which was four days behind the “time bar”, citing the permitted prosecution period outlined in Section 159D of the Crimes Ordinance.
Lai’s legal team said the tycoon’s prosecution should have started before October 1, 2019, half a year after he was alleged to have first created seditious content for Apple Daily.
Instead, prosecutors invoked the colonial-era law in Lai’s case in December 2021. They argued the offence was a continuing breach of the law and the time limit should be determined based on when the alleged conspiracy had ended.
At the end of Monday’s sitting, the bench asked the defence to look for further legal authorities in support of their contentions.
Lai is facing one count of conspiring to publish seditious publications. Former editor-in-chief Ryan Law Wai-kwong and five other editorial staff have pleaded guilty to the charge and are awaiting sentencing behind bars.
Legal team for Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai argues time’s up for sedition charge
The media mogul is also accused of violating the national security law, with two conspiracy charges relating to collusion with foreign forces for allegedly calling for international sanctions against authorities and inciting public hatred in the wake of the anti-government protests in 2019, sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill.
Media presence on Tuesday was noticeably less compared with Monday, the first day of the trial. Reporters and camera crew began to gather at the designated press zone at 7.45am on Tuesday, with most being from local outlets. The number of police officers outside the courthouse outnumbered journalists.
Dozens of public members queued for a seat early in the morning, with several officers standing guard nearby. About 30 people lined up shortly before 7am, according to a Post observation, with more people arriving after 8am. Most of the attendees were middle-aged and the elderly.