Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy publisher in Hong Kong, faces up to life imprisonment if convicted under the national security law imposed by Beijing. The trial, which diverges from the city’s tradition of trials by jury, is being presided over by three judges approved by the city’s leader. Lai’s lawyers filed an application to halt the trial, arguing that the judges were hearing the case instead of a jury as promised under the city’s constitution. However, on Monday, Judges Esther Toh, Susana D’Almada Remedios, and Alex Lee denied Lai’s request. Under the security law, national security cases may be tried without a jury if state secrets need to be protected, foreign forces are involved, or the personal safety of jurors must be safeguarded.
The law outlaws secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign collusion to intervene in the city’s affairs, and is being used to quash dissent. Lai is accused of conspiring with others to engage in hostile activities or call for sanctions or blockades against Hong Kong or China. He also faces charges of collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security and sedition.
Lai, the founder of the now-defunct newspaper Apple Daily, was initially allowed by the city’s top court to hire veteran lawyer Timothy Owen. However, the city’s national security authorities blocked that decision and refused Lai’s application to use a British lawyer in his national security trial. Critics argued that Beijing’s intervention damaged judicial independence in Hong Kong, which was promised to the city when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Last week, lawmakers in Hong Kong passed an amendment that grants the leader of the city the power to bar overseas lawyers from national security cases. More than 100 publishers have signed a joint statement calling for Lai’s release, and the saga over his choice of lawyer is viewed as part of Hong Kong’s crackdown on dissidents.
The Committee for Safeguarding National Security, which advises the director of immigration, rejected Lai’s request to overturn their decision. Judge Jeremy Poon upheld the committee’s decision, ruling that under the security law, courts have no jurisdiction over the committee.
Lai’s case highlights the continuing suppression of dissent in Hong Kong, as most of the city’s leading pro-democracy activists were arrested under the national security law last year. The trial of Jimmy Lai without a jury also diverges from the city’s tradition of trials by jury.
