Media ban would thwart case involving body of tycoon's wife
Evidence collected by Hong Kong judicial officers in Guangzhou on an attempt to steal the body of tycoon Li Ka-shing's wife might have to be ignored if the province's high court today orders that the press be excluded from the hearing.
Hong Kong High Court judge Mr Justice Alan Wright told the Guangdong Higher People's Court yesterday that any evidence not collected in an open, fair and just manner could not be admitted in a trial.
On Monday, Mr Justice Wright, an official from the Department of Justice and defence lawyers for the two alleged tomb raiders - Wong Kwan-fuk, 56, and Lau Kwok-sun, 50 - who are on bail awaiting trial, arrived at the Guangdong court to hear evidence from the pair's alleged accomplices - mainlanders Chen Jinpei, Chen Chienhua and Huang Hsinchuan.
They are now serving jail terms in Guangdong and are unable to testify in a Hong Kong court.
The hearing has been open to the press and public but an agent of the Guangdong court, who only gave his name as Judge Lai, proposed yesterday that it should be held behind closed doors because inaccurate media coverage had created 'inconvenience'.
