‘I was insensitive,’ says Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai about videos advocating sanctions
Lai tells court he failed to vet Apple Daily’s videos that sought US support in 2020 as he had other priorities
Ex-media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has acknowledged being “insensitive” for failing to vet two videos published on Apple Daily fronted by a now-fugitive calling for US sanctions against Hong Kong and Beijing before the imposition of the national security law.
Judges on Tuesday grilled Lai over his position that he was initially unaware of the video content by fugitive Elmer Yuan Gong-yi, who had held a strong stance against the mainland Chinese government.
Both videos were aired on the now-defunct Apple Daily’s digital platform and social media, respectively, in May and June 2020.
Yuan had made two videos addressing the then US president Donald Trump and former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in which he asked for foreign troops to be stationed in the city while calling for sanctions against Hong Kong and Chinese officials.
Lai insisted that he merely allowed Yuan to use the digital platforms, but the West Kowloon Court heard evidence suggesting that the ex-media boss not only encouraged his senior staff to give the businessman more airtime but also provided Yuan with the studio to film the second video, after the first attracted much public attention.
Lai, 77, is contesting two conspiracy charges of collusion with foreign forces and a third of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publications.
The prosecution argued that Lai had endorsed the content of Yuan’s videos because it aligned with his objective to gain international attention after he launched the “One Hongkonger One Letter to Save Hong Kong” initiative in May that year, which aimed to get readers to petition Trump to block the national security law.
