Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai made sizable donations to local pro-democracy parties and overseas media outlets, prosecutors said in a high-profile trial that could see the activist jailed for life if convicted.
Senior Public Prosecutor Crystal Chan told the court on Wednesday that the Apple Daily founder had made payments to multiple pro-democracy parties and organisations including the now-disbanded Civic Party, the Democratic Party, and the League of Social Democrats.
There was a heavy police presence inside and around the West Kowloon Law Courts Building, where a panel of three handpicked national security judges heard Chan read from a 36-page document containing transaction records from a police investigation of Lai’s finances.
The 76-year-old founder of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily faces one count of conspiring to publish “seditious” materials and two counts – punishable by life imprisonment – of conspiring to collude with foreign forces.
Payments to pro-democracy parties
The court heard on Thursday that Lai in March 2016 deposited HK$5 million into the bank account of a textile company he owned. Of the sum, HK$2 million was paid to law firm Ho Tse Wai and Partners. The law firm represented several defendants in the 47 democrats trial, as well as journalist Bao Choy in her case involving accessing vehicle records for media investigations.
The latter HK$3 million was paid to the Democratic Party, according to the transaction records.
Through his Canadian hotel chain, Lais Hotel Properties, Lai in 2019 transferred HK$4 million to the now-disbanded pro-democracy Civic Party, once in September and again in October.
He also paid the pro-democracy Labour Party HK$1 million that October, the Democratic Party HK$5 million in November, and the League of Social Democrats some HK$500,000 in November and HK$430,000 in January the next year.
Separately, Lai paid former pro-democracy lawmaker Au Nok-hin HK$379,100 in October 2020. Those payments altogether totalled more than HK$20 million, according to the prosecution.
‘Suspicious purposes’
The court also heard that Lai offered activist Andy Li, another defendant in the case, an advance payment to buy newspaper advertisements calling for sanctions on Hong Kong officials. Li faces one count of conspiring to collude with foreign forces and pleaded guilty in August 2021.
In 2019, after protests and unrest began over an unpopular extradition bill, activists placed advertisements in leading newspapers around the world to urge support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.
Lai, through his hotel chain, paid Japanese newspaper Nikkei’s Hong Kong office HK$1.47 million in August 2019, and three days later, Li deposited the same amount into the hotel company’s account, Chan told the court.
Citing bank records, Chan said Li received four large deposits between June and November 2019, including a HK$6 million deposit from payment platform Stripe, a HK$3 million deposit from former Apple Daily columnist Jack Hazlewood’s UK account, and some HK$500,000 from Lai’s aide Mark Simon.
Li also received a HK$3.29 million deposit from “The Project Hong Kong Trust,” a US-based fund operated by Simon.
Lai, via Simon, made a payment of HK$200,000 to the UK-based NGO Hong Kong Watch in October 2020. “It is obvious that Lai made use of Simon’s account for suspicious purposes,” Chan said.
Chan also listed out Lai’s transactions with international media outlets, including The Guardian and the Washington Post, adding that the payments totalling some HK$9.8 million were publication fees for disseminating “international propaganda.”
The prosecution then played an interview of Lai under police caution in September 2020, in which he was showed several Apple Daily articles and asked whether he knew what their purpose was. He told the police officer: “I have nothing to say.”
Asked whether he knew who authorised the publication of the articles, Lai said he did. He also said he did not know who Li was.
The judges adjourned the trial to Tuesday for the defence and prosecution to submit documents related to the admissibility of a report by City University of Hong Kong law professor Wang Guiguo, who was asked by the prosecution to provide views as an expert on foreign sanctions.
Lai’s trial, presided over by a panel of handpicked national security judges rather than a jury, is expected to last 80 days.
Globally, the trial has been framed as a bellwether for press freedom in Hong Kong, and representatives from international press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders were among those present on the opening day. In a statement, the watchdog said the “world was watching and will not turn a blind eye to a miscarriage of justice.”
The government has said that law enforcement actions were based on evidence and had “nothing to do with freedom of the press, or the background of any person or organisation.”
Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in June 2020 following the anti-extradition protests and unrest, criminalising subversion, secession, foreign collusion and terrorism. Those convicted face up to life imprisonment.
Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact Us | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps
Help safeguard press freedom & keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team
LATEST FROM HKFP
HKFP has an impartial stance, transparent funding, and balanced coverage guided by an Ethics Code and Corrections Policy.
Support press freedom & help us surpass 1,000 monthly Patrons: 100% independent, governed by an ethics code & not-for-profit.
