Jimmy Lai trial: Hong Kong court rejects tycoon’s request to dismiss sedition charge in national security case
- Trial adjourned until January 2, when court is expected to formally record Jimmy Lai’s plea and hear prosecution’s opening statement before witnesses take the stand
- Lawyers for media tycoon had argued the charge was filed after the expiry of a six-month time limit
Lai on Friday returned to West Kowloon Court before 8am, appearing a few hours later in front of three High Court judges to hear their ruling ahead of the next stage of his 80-day trial.
Wearing a navy blue blazer and a white cloth around his neck, Lai nodded and smiled at his family upon entering the dock.
Madam Justice Esther Toh Lye-ping said the bench found prosecutors had not violated criminal procedures when they laid the sedition charge against Lai, dismissing contentions by the tycoon’s legal team that it was filed too late.
Lawyers for the 76-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid earlier asked the judges to strike out the count relating to the newspaper’s allegedly seditious publications between April 2019 and June 2021. They argued the charge was laid after the expiry of a six-month time limit for filing a complaint under the city’s criminal code.