Hong Kong court hears fugitive tycoon Joseph Lau Luen-hung unfit to testify against Apple Daily
Local newspaper had published Lau’s medical report when it covered his 2013 corruption trial in Macau
Fugitive tycoon Joseph Lau Luen-hung is “bedridden” and “extremely fragile” from heart and renal conditions, making him too sick to testify in court against a local newspaper for publishing his earlier medical report, a court was told on Monday.
Lau, who was due to attend Kwun Tong Court on Monday as a prosecution witness against Apple Daily, needed three to four dialyses per week and had been experiencing speech problems since September, the court heard.
Currently hospitalised, Lau is suffering from renal failure, heart disease and diabetes. He was strongly advised against any physical and mental stress by his doctor, thus rendering him unfit to be present in court, it was revealed.
Apple Daily, Apple Daily Printing and its associate publisher Cheung Kim-hung have denied four summonses of disclosing personal data obtained without consent of the data users, breaching the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.
Lau was scheduled to take the stand, but the court heard that he was too ill to attend, prompting special magistrate Yu Chun-pong to consider an arrest warrant for the summoned witness.
The magistrate subsequently learned from fresh medical reports presented by Lau’s legal representatives, that the tycoon suffered from “multiple critical illnesses”.
Defence counsel Michael Blanchflower SC, provided glimpses into Lau’s condition before details of the reports were revealed.
“If under stress, he would lose consciousness,” the defence counsel said.
The magistrate then ordered a summary of the report to be read out in court as this would be in the best interest of the public.
During the hearing, Blanchflower also argued that Lau might have no prospect of recovery and therefore, would not be fit to testify in the near future.
Prosecutors later confirmed this after consulting Lau’s doctor.
The magistrate granted an adjournment requested by the prosecutors until Wednesday to decide whether to continue with the case without Lau as the main complainant.
Lau and his high-profile business partner Steven Lo Kit-shing were found guilty in 2014 of corruption and money laundering for paying a HK$20 million bribe to Macau’s disgraced ex-public works chief Ao Man-long. Ao was jailed for 29 years in May 2012.
The bribe was for five plots of prime land overlooking Macau’s glitzy Cotai Strip, to develop luxury housing.
