“[The prosecution] is out of time therefore there’s no jurisdiction for the court,” Pang told the three judges – Madam Justices Esther Toh Lye-ping and Susana D’Almada Remedios and Mr Justice Alex Lee Wan-tang – approved by the chief executive to hear national security cases.
Lee identified the key argument in Pang’s submission as focusing on when the alleged offence began, as the prosecution said the first seditious article was published on April 1, 2019.
Stage set for Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai’s national security trial
Pang argued that the alleged conspiracy agreement could be linked to one or more than one offence, but the legal timeline should only start when the first suspected offence occurred, so the prosecution could not accumulate indictable offences beyond the six-month time frame.
Lai, founder of the popular Apple Daily tabloid newspaper, is facing one count of conspiring to publish seditious publications, alongside former editor-in-chief Ryan Law Wai-kwong and five other editorial staff, under the Crimes Ordinance.
He also allegedly violated the national security law, with two conspiracy charges relating to collusion with foreign forces for allegedly drawing international sanctions against authorities and inciting public hatred in the wake of anti-government protests in 2019, sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill.
The hearing, at West Kowloon Court in Cheung Sha Wan, is expected to take 80 days. The trial, which is a High Court case, was moved to the more spacious West Kowloon building in light of the duration and to better accommodate crowds.
The case will be heard without a jury after justice minister Paul Lam Ting-kwok cited concerns including “involvement of foreign factors”.
The British and US foreign ministries both spoke out against the trial.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller condemned the trial and urged Beijing and Hong Kong authorities to respect press freedom.
“We call on Hong Kong authorities to immediately release Jimmy Lai and all others imprisoned for defending their rights,” Miller said.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron on Sunday said the national security law was “a clear breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration” – which paved the way for the city’s handover in 1997 – and called for Lai’s release.
“I am gravely concerned that anyone is facing prosecution under the national security law, and particularly concerned at the politically motivated prosecution of British national Jimmy Lai,” Cameron said.
In Beijing, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin hit back at both countries while defending the hearing, accusing the United States and United Kingdom of “gossiping” and “politically manipulating” the trial.
“The central government resolutely supports the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in defending national security by the law and punishing criminal acts that damage national security,” Wang said.
“Any conspiracies that smear and intend to disturb the Hong Kong national security law will not succeed.”
The ministry’s local arm also released its own statement condemning Western governments’ comments.
“The United States and the West put the rule of law on their lips, but use Jimmy Lai’s case to destroy Hong Kong’s rule of law and judicial independence, providing ‘support’ to suspects without caring for right and wrong,” its spokesman said.
“This is merely another farce of double standards without a bottom line.”
Both the main court and extended courts were noticeably emptier when the hearing resumed after lunch. Most consulate representatives present in the morning were not seen at the afternoon session.
In the morning, a queue stretched from the entrance of the building, as dozens braved the chilly weather for a ticket to the trial.
Police officers stopped vehicles heading to the building’s car park for inspection. Officers used a handheld device to check the underside of the cars.
Police dogs and dozens of officers, including three armed and masked personnel guarding an anti-riot vehicle dubbed the “Sabre-toothed tiger”, circled the entrances of the building, a press zone and the queue outside.
Chief Superintendent Steve Li Kwai-wah of the National Security Department was near the court building to monitor police operations in the morning. He was also seen outside the court during the trial.
Lai turned 76 at the maximum-security Stanley Prison earlier this month, his fourth birthday behind bars since first being denied bail in December 2020. He has been detained for more than 1,100 days.
He was brought to West Kowloon Court at 7.35am on Monday.
Representatives from at least 10 consulates, including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Switzerland began arriving at the court at around 8.20am, to observe the trial.
US representative Roxie Houge, the economic and political affairs chief at the country’s consulate, told the press that she hoped the city’s national security trials “would be kept public”.
Matthias Kaufmann, counsellor and deputy head of the European Union Office to Hong Kong and Macau, was also in the queue. He said his presence was a signal of the union’s commitment to upholding the rule of law.
Sapphire Le Sage from the British consulate said representatives would attend the trial as much as they could.
Retired Catholic leader Joseph Zen Ze-kiun was seen entering the building at 9am.
Lai’s wife Teresa Li-Lai Wan-kam, his youngest son Augustin Lai Zhun-yan and daughter Claire Lai Choi also attended the trial. Li-Lai sat next to Zen during the hearing.
A founding leader of the Democratic Party, Emily Lau Wai-hing, arrived at 9.45am. She told the press that she hoped Lai would get a fair trial.
Barristers began arriving at the court at 8.45am. Colman Li Fung-kei, one of the lawyers representing Lai, was seen entering the building at 8.50am.
Wearing a grey blazer, Lai was flanked by four prison officers while he was escorted into the dock. He looked at the public gallery and smiled when he saw Zen waving at him.
There were additional security measures inside the court building, requiring everyone entering to walk through a metal detector and have their belongings checked using an X-ray scanner.
‘1,000 Hong Kong police officers to guard West Kowloon Court’ for Jimmy Lai’s trial
Three Apple Daily-related companies are also named as defendants and are represented by counsel appointed by the company’s liquidators. The High Court ordered the winding up of the newspaper’s publisher Next Digital in December 2021 following a government petition.Police earlier announced they would deploy 1,000 officers, including personnel from the Counter Terrorism Response Unit and bomb disposal squad, to guard the area round the clock over the next three months. Sniffer dogs would also be dispatched, the force added.
Four police vehicles are expected to be stationed at the elevated section of the West Kowloon Corridor, dozens of metres from the complex. The measure follows a suspected airgun attack on the court building that shattered a large window during a subversion trial in February.A police bomb disposal vehicle was seen parked on a lane opposite the courthouse entrance on Monday.
The judiciary has set aside 388 seats for members of the public to attend the trial. Seventy spectators will observe the proceedings from the main courtroom’s public gallery, while the rest will watch a live broadcast. Another 161 seats have been reserved for the press.
About 40 people were waiting in each of the two queues, comprising members of the press and the public, outside the court building shortly after 7am.
The first four people in the queue said they wanted to see the trial because of its historical significance. The first person in the queue, who gave her name as JC, said she had been waiting since 10pm on Sunday night.
“I want to make sure I can go inside,” the 29-year-old catering worker said. “I’m worried there are people who were paid to queue up coming here to take the spots.”
Two observers from Reporters Sans Frontières, an international non-governmental organisation advocating for press freedom, were third and fourth in line. They said they had flown into the city for the trial.
There were concerns during the opening of a high-profile subversion trial in February involving 47 opposition politicians that some people had been paid to wait in the public queue and attend the trial.
The Post did not see anyone paying others to wait for a seat or receive money for queuing up on Monday morning.
The trial continues on Tuesday.
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