Contempt of court: Hong Kong publications and editors created real risk of prejudice in publishing accused’s confession, says judge
The case relates to an interview with a man who was later found guilty of killing and dismembering his parents in a gruesome murder case
A Hong Kong newspaper publisher and its editors who were fined a total of more than half a million dollars had created “a real risk of prejudice” by branding jailed murderer Henry Chau Hoi-leung a cold-blooded killer and publishing his confession in their pre-trial coverage, a Hong Kong court said yesterday.
But High Court judge Mr Justice Thomas Au Hing-cheung agreed that what Apple Daily, now defunct Sharp Daily and their two editors-in-chief did was not so serious as to warrant a jail term. He noted their apology.
Two Hong Kong newspapers fined HK$550,000 over ‘foolish’ and ‘reprehensible’ decision to publish murder defendant interview
Au yesterday handed down his reasons for fining Apple Daily, its then chief editor Cheung Kim-hung, Sharp Daily and its then chief editor Li Pang-kay HK$250,000, HK$90,000, HK$150,000 and HK$60,000 respectively.
The four admitted liability for contempt of court in September last year for running a sensational interview with Chau, who has since been jailed for life for murdering and dismembering his parents.
The coverage – which featured a confession Chau made to the publication’s reporter inside a detention centre – ran just two days after Chau was brought before a magistrate to hear his charge on March 18, 2003.
Media outlets in the city are limited in what they can report before a verdict is returned in court proceedings and any attempts to bypass the rule can result in a contempt of court charge.