Hong Kong prosecutors request national security law judge for Jimmy Lai fraud trial over office use

Hong Kong prosecutors have asked for a judge designated for national security law cases to try media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying on fraud allegations stemming from the use of his office space.

But the application was put on hold as the defence revealed it had yet to examine all the evidence submitted by the prosecution, prompting the judge to adjourn the case for another hearing ahead of next March’s scheduled trial.

The unprecedented request from prosecutors emerged as the founder of Next Digital, which owns the Apple Daily newspaper, returned to court on Thursday alongside two senior executives to face a joint count of fraud, which accuses them of defrauding a government-owned enterprise by breaching land-lease terms.

Senior public prosecutor Ivan Cheung Cheuk-kan said it would be “safe and prudent” in the long term to list the case before a designated judge – introduced under the Beijing-imposed national security law last year – because he could foresee challenges to the prosecution case.

Cheung said the ongoing investigation was being handled by the police force’s national security unit and part of the prosecution’s case was built on the materials seized from the unit’s high-profile raid of the company’s Tseung Kwan O offices on August 10, 2020.

The prosecutor noted that the defence had already raised parallel proceedings in the High Court, challenging police’s exercise of powers under the national security law during the search and seizure of evidence from the company office.

Cheung said it was likely that the trial court would be required to consider the admissibility of evidence if prosecutors were to rely on those disputed materials. He submitted that this question ought to be handled by a designated judge.

“If a non-designated judge is forced to handle this issue, it would put the judge in a difficult position,” Cheung said.