Hong Kong Watch: 'Politically motivated and trumped up' charges against Jimmy Lai are an assault on the rule of law

Today Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and owner of Apple Daily newspaper, was charged with fraud and remanded into police custody until his trial date in April 2021. Two other Next Digital executives, Royston Chow Tat-kuen, the company’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer, and chief administrative officer Wong Wai-keung were also charged with fraud and released on bail.

All three are accused of breaching land-lease terms by improperly using Next Digital’s office space in Tseung Kwan O for purposes not permitted by the lease. According to an Apple Daily report, the judge presiding over the case had been hand-picked by the city's leader, Carrie Lam, to handle national security cases.

Lai was also arrested under the National Security Law on 10th August when the Hong Kong Police Force raided Apple Daily newspaper’s offices. He stands accused of ‘colluding with foreign forces’ and could face between 10 years to life in prison under the National Security Law.

The charging of Jimmy Lai and the Next Digital executives comes in a week when Hong Kong authorities are using the legal system to settle political scores with pro-democracy activists. On Tuesday 2nd December, the case of Hong Kong activist Tam Tak- Chi who was previously charged with sedition was designated to a security law judge, despite Tak-Chi not currently facing charges under the National Security Law. On the same day, Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, and Ivan Lam were sentenced to 13.5 months, 10 months, and 7 months respectively for violating Public Order Ordinance and organising and participating in “an unauthorised assembly” last year.

Commenting on the charging of Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong Watch’s Chief Executive Benedict Rogers, said:

“The politically motivated and trumped up charges against Jimmy Lai bare no resemblance to due process or the rule of law for which Hong Kong has historically been respected around the world. he fact that the judge presiding over Jimmy’s case is alleged to have been handpicked by Carrie Lam is a testament to how fast the city's constitutional safeguards have unravelled.

 Beijing is using a combination of economic coercion and litigation to starve the pro-democracy movement of funding, and intimidate them into silence.

The international community must use its voice to condemn this latest move by Beijing to suffocate the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, and implement targeted Magnitsky sanctions against Hong Kong and Chinese government officials who have overseen the dismantling of Hong Kong’s autonomy, rule of law, and way of life.”

Lord Alton of Liverpool, a patron of Hong Kong Watch, also said:

“This is straight out of the playbooks of Stalin and Mao: detentions, arrests, intimidation, threats, kangaroo courts. Locking up campaigners and detaining Jimmy Lai won’t stop people believing in democracy in Hong Kong but unmasks the jailers for what they are."