National security: five core members of Hong Kong’s Law Society voice personal concern over state media’s blasting of Jimmy Lai bail ruling
- Group members, all from society’s governing council, insist they are speaking in their personal capacity rather than for the professional body, and say ‘unfounded attacks’ on Lai could prejudice his right to a fair trial
- They Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng to defend the city’s judiciary against ‘unwarranted accusations’ levelled by state-controlled media
The five lawyers – including human rights advocates Mark Daly and Kenneth Lam – also urged Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah to defend the city’s judiciary against any “unwarranted accusations” levelled by state media. They insisted they were speaking in their personal capacity rather than for the 10,000-strong professional body.
At the centre of the controversy was a strongly worded commentary published by People’s Daily on Sunday, which slammed Hong Kong’s High Court for granting HK$10 million (US$1.3 million) bail to Lai – the founder of Next Digital – whom it described as “notorious and extremely dangerous”.
It was published days ahead of government prosecutors’ planned appeal against the bail decision.
“The commentary published by People’s Daily could be perceived as putting pressure on the judiciary to decide a pending case in a particular manner, which breaches the sub judice rule and could prejudice the accused’s right to a fair trial,” the lawyers argued.