Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai’s trial could be deferred by month or more while Beijing interprets national security law, analysts say
- City leader John Lee is asking Beijing’s top legislative body to interpret the law, with the committee’s next meeting set for December 30.
- One legal scholar says the case underlines a wider issue of ‘a broader pattern of blocking due process rights in national security trials’
The need to wait for Beijing’s decision on the role of foreign lawyers in national security cases could defer Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s trial by at least a month unless special meetings are called, according to analysts.
The founder of the now-defunct tabloid newspaper Apple Daily won his Court of Final Appeal bid on Monday to have British King’s Counsel Timothy Owen represent him at his trial on Thursday, when he faces charges of sedition and collusion with foreign forces under the Beijing-imposed national security law.
But shortly after the ruling, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said he had asked the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, Beijing’s top legislative body, to decide whether such an appointment should be permitted given the need to safeguard national security.
Lee also said the secretary for justice would seek an adjournment of Lai’s national security trial. The media tycoon was first charged in December 2020, months after the security law was put in place.
The city leader on Monday said: “I trust this matter will be addressed as soon as possible. It will be appropriate for the secretary for justice to seek an adjournment to the actual trial and we should proceed to do that.”