3 Hong Kong judges in Jimmy Lai trial suggest it would be ‘premature’ to acquit mogul

Defence team argues evidence produced in 90 previous court sessions is weak, but judges wary of acquittal while proceedings are ongoing

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Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai has denied two conspiracy charges of collusion with foreign forces and a third count of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publications. Photo: AP

Published: 7:44pm, 24 Jul 2024

A panel of three Hong Kong judges presiding over the trial of media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying on national security charges have suggested it would be premature to acquit him in the middle of proceedings based on what his defence team maintains is weak evidence.

Lai’s defence team on Wednesday argued that the evidence presented in 90 previous West Kowloon Court sittings was so tenuous that no reasonable person could convict if properly instructed on the applicable legal principles.

Robert Pang Yiu-hung SC, Lai’s counsel, told the court the prosecution had failed to show the 76-year-old was party to a criminal plot to instigate international sanctions against Hong Kong and mainland China after the enactment of the Beijing-decreed national security law in June 2020.

He said the case should be dismissed on the ground of “no case to answer” because of insufficient evidence.

Pang stressed the tycoon’s comments made after the law came into force about the merit and impact of sanctions could not be inferred as an intent to collude with a foreign government.

Police patrol the area around West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday as Jimmy Lai’s national security trial resumed. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

But Madam Justice Esther Toh Lye-ping was unimpressed by the argument and said determination of the facts should be, in principle, for a jury to decide.