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Hong Kong court dismisses bid by media tycoon Jimmy Lai to overturn conviction

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  • Hong Kong court dismisses bid by media tycoon Jimmy Lai to overturn conviction
  • August 12, 2024
  • Article Body Text HONG KONG — <p>Hong Kong's top court on Monday unanimously dismissed the bid to overturn the convictions of media tycoon Jimmy Lai and six other pro-democracy campaigners for an unauthorized assembly in 2019.</p> <p>Lai, 76, the founder of the pro-democracy newspaper <em>Apple Daily</em>, and six others including veteran democrat Martin Lee had been <a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N2LT33K&amp;linkedFromStory=true">found guilty</a> of organizing and participating in an unauthorized assembly in August 2019 during months-long pro-democracy protests in the China-ruled city.</p> <p>A lower court had overturned their conviction for organizing the unauthorized assembly, but their conviction for taking part in an unauthorized procession was upheld.</p> <p>Their appeal centered on whether the conviction was proportionate to fundamental human rights protections, a principle set down in two non-binding decisions of Britain’s Supreme Court known as &quot;operational proportionality.&quot;</p> <p>David Neuberger, a former head of Britain's Supreme Court, was one of the five judges on the Court of Final Appeal (CFA) who <a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N3II0OY&amp;linkedFromStory=true">heard</a> this case, adding to the debate over whether foreign judges should continue to sit on the city's highest court amid a national security crackdown.</p> <p>The judgment came two months after the <a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N3I43AU&amp;linkedFromStory=true">resignations</a> of two British judges from Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal (CFA), Lawrence Collins and Jonathan Sumption. Sumption said Hong Kong was becoming a totalitarian state and the city's rule of law had been &quot;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3I80LU&amp;linkedFromStory=true">profoundly compromised</a>.&quot;</p> <p>Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020 after months of pro-democracy protests in 2019 and the Hong Kong legislative council passed a new national security law, also known as <a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL3N3FX25J&amp;linkedFromStory=true">Article 23</a> in March.</p> <p>Neuberger told Reuters in mid-June he would remain on Hong Kong's highest court &quot;to support the rule of law in Hong Kong, as best I can.&quot;</p> <p>Lai and three former lawmakers Lee Cheuk-yan, 67, “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung, 68, and Cyd Ho, 70, were <a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N2M81P4&amp;linkedFromStory=true">jailed</a> between eight and 18 months.</p> <p>Martin Lee, 86, a founding chairman of Hong Kong's Democratic Party, barrister Margaret Ng, 76, and veteran pro-democracy politician Albert Ho, 72, were given suspended sentences.</p> <p>Lai has been held in solitary confinement for more than three years since December 2020. He is now facing a separate <a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N3JF04Z&amp;linkedFromStory=true">national security trial</a> and serving a <a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N32J0YY&amp;linkedFromStory=true">sentence</a> of five years and nine months after being convicted of violating a lease contract for his now-shuttered newspaper's headquarters.</p> <p>According to the Security Bureau, 301 people were arrested over acts or activities that endanger national security. Among them, 176 persons and five companies were charged.</p>
  • Content Type Text
  • Language English
  • NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
  • Subtitles / Dubbing Available No
  • Network VOA
  • Embargo Date August 11, 2024 23:33 EDT
  • Byline Reuters
  • Brand / Language Service Voice of America - English
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