Jimmy Lai trial: Hong Kong tycoon loses bid for early discharge

Three High Court judges reject Apple Daily founder’s claim that evidence is too weak to have any reasonable prospect of conviction

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Jimmy Lai is standing trial in front of three judges endorsed by Chief Executive John Lee to oversee national security proceedings. Photo: AP

Published: 11:01am, 25 Jul 2024Updated: 4:13pm, 25 Jul 2024

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has lost a bid for early discharge after a three-judge panel decided evidence was strong enough to proceed with his high-profile national security trial.

The High Court judges told West Kowloon Court on Thursday that they found a case to answer against the founder of Apple Daily and outspoken Beijing critic.

They rejected his claim that the evidence was too weak to have any reasonable prospect of conviction.

Senior Counsel Robert Pang Yiu-hung, for the defence, said after the ruling that Lai had elected to take the witness stand and the court might need to spend three to four weeks to hear his evidence.

Pang added a technology expert might also be called to explain the functions of messaging app Signal, through which Lai had maintained communication with some of his associates. But the specialist’s presence in court might be excused if the defence could reach a consensus with the prosecution about the reliability of his written evidence.

The trial is now expected to run into next year, as the court adjourned the trial until November 20 for the judges to handle other unrelated High Court criminal cases.