Jimmy Lai aide denies he sought out lawmakers to speak at press freedom debate
Mark Simon says Next Media founder did not approach lawmakers to speak on press freedom
A top aide to Next Media founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying yesterday denied he approached Labour Party lawmakers in an attempt to lobby them to speak in a Legislative Council debate on press freedom in January.
The aide, Mark Simon, was speaking after Reuters reported that a copy of a search warrant used in a raid by graft-busters on his and Lai's homes on Thursday indicated they were looking for connections between payments or donations and the debate.
Labour Party chairman Lee Cheuk-yan has admitted receiving HK$1.5 million from the media tycoon.
In a written reply to the South China Morning Post yesterday, Simon declined to confirm the content of the search warrants.
But he said neither he nor, to the best of his knowledge, Lai, had asked the Labour Party's lawmakers to speak on press freedom in the January debate.
"No, please use the word 'No', so no misunderstanding," Simon wrote. Simon also declined to comment when asked whether he would seek a court injunction to challenge the validity of the ICAC search or to restrict the officers from gaining access to materials unrelated to the probe.
Speaking on a radio programme yesterday, Lee also denied he had received any instructions from Lai ahead of the January debate in the Legislative Council.