National security law: Jimmy Lai’s voting rights at Next Digital suspended, Hong Kong police unit tells company
- The media group, which owns the Apple Daily tabloid, says the move will have no effect on operations, as the mogul has already relinquished his board seat
- Lai is currently facing a charge of collusion with foreign forces under the city’s Beijing-imposed security law
In a statement released on Tuesday, the media group said the National Security Department sent it a letter a day earlier “confirming that [Lai] must not directly or indirectly exercise voting rights in relation to any shares in the company held by him except under the authority of a licence granted by the secretary for security”.
The company said the ban “was not expected to have any impact on [its] operational and financial performance” as Lai was no longer a member of the board.
The statement added: “Holders of remaining shares in the company representing approximately 28.74 per cent of the total issued shares … may continue to exercise their respective voting rights at general meetings of the company unless otherwise required under the listing rules to abstain from voting.
“As such, the company expects its general meetings and resolutions to continue to be properly convened and voted on in accordance with the articles of association of the company and applicable rules and laws of Hong Kong.”
Lai has been accused of collusion with a foreign country under the Beijing-imposed national security law, and was also charged with two counts of conspiracy in April.