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Hong Kong national security law: media tycoon Jimmy Lai loses legal bid to block police access to journalistic articles on phones
- High Court judge rules that police are entitled to seize journalistic materials under common law in light of ‘paramount’ public interest
- Lawyers for Lai, 74, are considering lodging an appeal, meaning police may not be able to access tycoon’s mobile devices any time soon
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Jailed Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has lost a legal bid to block police from inspecting journalistic articles stored in his mobile phones in preparation for his coming national security trial.
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A High Court judge hand-picked by the city’s leader to oversee national security proceedings ruled on Tuesday that police were entitled to seize journalistic materials under common law in light of “paramount” public interest, as the Beijing-decreed national security legislation conferred additional powers on officers investigating offences.
Lai’s lawyers are considering lodging an appeal, meaning police may not be able to access the tycoon’s mobile devices any time soon.
Lai, 74, applied to the court for the return of journalistic articles, as well as material protected by legal professional privilege, soon after a high-profile police raid on the headquarters of his now-defunct newspaper Apple Daily on August 10, 2020.
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