Hong Kong judge cites heightened risk of reoffending in decision to deny bail to media mogul Jimmy Lai
- Madam Justice Anthea Pang points to new accusations from police that Jimmy Lai committed other offences in her reasoning for remanding the 73-year-old in custody
- No amount of conditions for release can prevent a determined defendant from committing further infractions, she adds
Pang said that even if there were no risk of Lai committing the same offence while out on bail, the court would still need to assess his likelihood of perpetrating other, similar ones.
Without naming Lai, the judge further suggested a defendant might knowingly breach his or her bail conditions, however stringent they might be, if he or she was determined enough.
“Matters should not be considered in isolation … If one was determined, the foreseeable danger of being discovered [committing offences threatening national security] might not be a bar to action,” Pang wrote in her ruling.
She concluded: “I am not satisfied that there are sufficient grounds for believing that the applicant will not continue to commit acts endangering national security if bail is granted to him.”
Lai was first denied bail by a magistrate over one count of fraud on December 3. He was further charged with colluding with foreign forces under the security law in another case a week later, with his application for bail again dismissed.