Hong Kong judges, Jimmy Lai’s lawyers lock horns over ‘armchair punditry’
Lai’s lawyers and three trial judges find themselves again entangled in debate on interpretation of former media boss’ remarks
Lawyers for former Hong Kong media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying have argued that his “armchair punditry” did not support prosecutors’ contention that he masterminded a conspiracy to instigate Western sanctions, prompting a judge to note that his comments could be interpreted as “disguised requests”.
Defence lawyer Robert Pang Yiu-hung SC argued that the court could not conclude that Lai, 77, must have sought foreign interference through sharp criticisms made after the national security law’s implementation in June 2020.
“If you take it neutrally, he’s concerned with human rights, he’s being careful with his words. How can then you draw the inference, not that he was just requesting sanctions, but he was also part of a conspiracy to do so?” Pang said.
That contention did not appear to convince the three High Court judges, who warned against examining selected pieces of evidence in isolation.