Disgraced ex-legislator Chim Pui-chung should pay the huge costs of his marathon trial because he had spun 'a web of deceit, subterfuge and lies', a judge was told yesterday.
Prosecutor Michael Lunn SC argued that it would be wrong to make taxpayers bear the politician's multimillion-dollar legal bill in relation to the five charges on which he was cleared.
'This is a case that really ought to be put in the textbooks as an illustration of how a person is denied his costs when he brings suspicion upon himself.
'We submit that is Mr Chim's position. He has done so by a web of deceit, subterfuge and lies,' Mr Lunn said.
He said the former legislator had deceived the Securities and Futures Commission, the Stock Exchange and Legco with regard to declaring his interests in certain companies.
But the attack sparked a protest from Chim's barrister, Cheng Huan SC, who said the politician was being accused of things of which the jury acquitted him.
'All these suggestions of lies, concealment, non-disclosure and dishonesty amount to a contemptuous view of the jury's verdict, the cornerstone of our judicial system,' he said. 'It is wrong for Mr Lunn to attempt to blemish the character of Mr Chim in this manner.' Chim, 50, was jailed for three years in August for plotting to forge share transfer documents. He was found not guilty of five other charges, alleging conspiracy to defraud and corruption.
