All eyes on Lai

The focus was on imprisoned media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying as his trial began yesterday at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court, which was surrounded by more than 100 uniformed and plainclothes police officers.

Lai’s trial is expected to last 80 days.

Dozens of people queued outside the court to get in, with some waiting overnight.

The first in the queue, a 29-year-old catering worker named JC, said she arrived at 10pm on Sunday as she was worried there would be “queuing gangs” taking up the seats in the public gallery.

Police patrolled in groups of four around the building as well as on connecting roads, while some officers were inside, and all wore bulletproof vests while some were heavily armed.

It is understood the 76-year-old Lai was transferred earlier to Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre from Stanley Prison. 

Some photographers climbed a slope near the center yesterday morning, hoping to capture the moment Lai was moved around. But officers also climbed the slope and told them to leave.

The prison van carrying Lai arrived at the building at around 7.40am and left under police escort at around 4.15pm – 45 minutes after the first day of the trial ended.

All vehicles had to first go through X-ray checking by police before entering the court building.

At least 15 police vehicles were stationed outside the court in the morning, including buses of the Police Tactical Unit, as well as a China-made anti-riot vehicle dubbed “Saber-Toothed Tiger.”

Lai’s trial has attracted over 50 journalists from local and foreign media, with some 20 of them waiting outside the court from Sunday afternoon.

Thirty seats were reserved for the journalists in the courtroom, while a live stream was also available in the extended courtroom as well as in a press room. 

The judiciary arranged 15 seats for local media, 10 seats for nonlocal media, and five were for online media. Steve Li Kwai-wah, chief superintendent of national security, sat behind the legal team to observe.

Activist Alexandra Wong Fung-yiu – also known as “Grandmother Wong” – was outside the court building in the morning to support Lai, waving a British national flag. But she was soon taken away by police.

Former Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing, 71, and retired Hong Kong Catholic leader Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, 91, also attended the trial in morning. Lau said she hoped Lai all the other defendants in the case would have a fair trial.

“I also hope to spread the message to the international community that Hong Kong still enjoys the rule of law and an independent juridical system,” she said to a crowd outside the court.

Lau said she has not been visiting Lai since he was sent to Stanley Prison in January 2021 due to the limited number of visiting quotas.

The trial was originally a High Court case. West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court is more spacious and can accommodate the huge public interest in the case.

The founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily was escorted to the courtroom wearing a light gray suit jacket and was guarded by four correctional services officers in the dock.

His case is being heard by national security judges Esther Toh Lye-ping, Susana Maria D’Almada Remedios and Alex Lee Wan-tang, without any jury.

Lai and his three companies, Apple Daily, Apple Daily Printing and AD Internet, face two counts of conspiracy with external elements endangering national security and another count of printing, publishing, selling, offering for sale, distributing, displaying or reproducing seditious publications.

Lai has been in detention since being arrested in 2020.

He could face up to life in prison if convicted, while he has already been sentenced to five years and nine months in a separate case.