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Lawyers for Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai suggest police ‘coached’ key prosecution witness before testimony
- Defence counsel seeking further information on police contact with former Apple Daily publisher Cheung Kim-hung
- Judge says request only helpful to defence case if Cheung shown to have fabricated evidence under duress during prison visits by police
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Lawyers for Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying have suggested police “coached” a key prosecution witness before his testimony in the mogul’s national security trial.
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West Kowloon Court heard the claim on Friday as Lai’s defence counsel sought further information on police contact with former Apple Daily tabloid publisher Cheung Kim-hung after he was charged and remanded in custody under the Beijing-imposed national security law.
Madam Justice Esther Toh Lye-ping, one of a trio of judges hearing the trial, questioned the move to request prison visit records and said it would not help the defence unless Cheung was shown to have fabricated his evidence under duress.
The trial was adjourned until Monday to allow for the prosecution to ascertain whether it was in possession of any relevant records.
The court earlier heard Cheung, who has been detained since June 2021, offered to turn prosecution witness a day after a meeting detective station Sergeant Lai Kwok-yung on November 11, 2021.
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The sergeant from police’s national security department testified he was originally tasked with the delivery of a court judgment in relation to Cheung’s failed bid for bail, but his meeting with the detainee turned into a discussion on “daily matters” that lasted more than three hours.
The officer previously denied a defence assertion that the true purpose of the meeting was to convince Cheung to turn against his former boss Lai.
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