A Hong Kong court has postponed the national security trial of media billionaire Jimmy Lai until September 2023, after a hearing revealed that Lai’s British attorney was denied a visa extension and forced to leave the country.
The trial of Lai was set to begin on Tuesday but has been delayed due to the Hong Kong government’s efforts to prevent his British attorney Tim Owen from representing him.
The revised trial dates are September 25 to November 21 of the following year, although uncertainties remain about his legal counsel.
Owen’s plea for an extension of his work visa was denied by Hong Kong’s immigration department, which caused the court to postpone the trial’s start date by one month. Local media reported on Tuesday that the court learned the application was denied and that Owen had left Hong Kong.
Prosecutors had previously sought to exclude Owen from the case, alleging that foreign attorneys working on national security cases posed a threat to national security. After Hong Kong’s top court rejected this argument, the Hong Kong administration petitioned the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) to “interpret” the court’s decision.
The court was informed on Tuesday that the NPSCS had not responded to a request for a ruling on whether foreign attorneys – who are permitted to represent Hong Kong clients in limited circumstances – can work on national security issues.
Tam Yiu-Chung, Hong Kong’s representative delegate on the Standing Committee, stated last week that prohibiting foreign attorneys from working on national security cases was “consistent with the legislative spirit and logic of national security,” as reported by the Hong Kong Free Press. Tam added that national security suspects who could not get a lawyer in Hong Kong could be tried on the mainland.
Tam has suggested in the past that defendants may be extradited to the mainland for trial “if the (Chinese) government deems it essential.”
Lai, a 75-year-old democracy activist and founder of the tabloid daily Apple Daily, could face life in jail on allegations of conspiracy to cooperate with foreign forces, brought under a comprehensive national security law enacted in 2020 with the cooperation of the Hong Kong administration.
Lai had recently completed a prison term for crimes relating to a demonstration, but on Saturday he was sentenced to an additional five years and nine months in prison for fraud linked to a contractual disagreement.
The conviction of one of his enterprises for breaking the terms of a lease was allegedly politically motivated, according to his supporters. Stanley Chan, the judge, described the case as “a basic example of fraud” unrelated to politics or press freedom.
