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Jimmy Lai trial: activist lobbied foreign politicians to sever extradition treaties with Hong Kong even after national security law took effect, court told
- Andy Li, a defendant turned prosecution witness, tells court emergence of ‘political crimes’ in Hong Kong justified his efforts
- Prosecutor refers to a series of exchanges between Li and British politician Luke de Pulford after national security law took effect in 2020
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An activist allegedly backed by media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying lobbied foreign legislators to sever extradition and criminal justice cooperation treaties with Hong Kong even after the Beijing-decreed national security law came into force four years ago, the tycoon’s trial has heard.
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Andy Li Yu-hin, a defendant turned prosecution witness, on Thursday said the emergence of “political crimes” in Hong Kong justified his efforts to get foreign governments to review their legal arrangements with the city.
“The signatories of such treaties may revise or renegotiate the text so as to prevent extradition for political crimes,” Li told West Kowloon Court.
Prosecutor Anthony Chau Tin-hang referred to a series of exchanges between Li and British politician Luke de Pulford, who was involved in founding the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), after the national security law took effect on June 30, 2020.
Li said the Beijing-decreed legislation had offered the world “a first-hand taste of why Hongkongers have fought so hard against the extradition bill”, which triggered the anti-government protests in 2019.
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