Hong Kong national security law: 6 former Apple Daily executives face possible life sentences after trial moves to High Court
- The six senior executives of the now-defunct newspaper are charged under the national security law with colluding with foreign forces
- Prosecutors plan to move the trial to the Court of First Instance, where judges are not restricted by sentencing caps
The defendants appeared at West Kowloon Court on Thursday for a third pretrial hearing over the charge of colluding with foreign forces, three months after the tabloid-style newspaper published its last edition amid a national security law crackdown.
The former senior executives are editor-in-chief Ryan Law Wai-kwong, publisher Cheung Kim-hung, executive editor-in-chief Lam Man-chung, associate publisher Chan Pui-man, and editorial writers Fung Wai-kong and Yeung Ching-kee. No sentencing cap applies at the Court of First Instance, which is part of the High Court.
The prosecution did not reveal whether the trial would be heard before a jury. West Kowloon Court will handle the transfer procedure on October 12, with the six remaining in custody.
The police force’s National Security Department previously accused the six of conspiring with now-jailed Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying to seek international sanctions or hostile actions by foreign governments against Hong Kong or mainland China.
Conspiracy to collude with foreign forces is punishable by life imprisonment, with a minimum jail term of 10 years applicable in serious cases.
