Court rules scholar report on sanctions could be admitted in Jimmy Lai trial

A scholar report on the legal impact brought by foreign sanctions was correlated to the collusion charges faced by Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and could be admitted by the court, a panel of three national security judges ruled on the tenth day of the trial. 

This came after the defense argued that the scholar report submitted by the prosecution along with the legislation bills and executive orders signed by the White House could not reflect Lai’s state of mind. 

The defense believed that the prosecution had to prove the causal relationship between Lai’s requests for foreign sanctions against Hong Kong and China and the sanctions ultimately imposed by foreign countries. 

The defense also noted that the report written by Wang Guiguo, Chair Professor of Chinese and Comparative Law at the City University of Hong Kong and husband to pro-establishment lawmaker Priscilla Leung Mei-fun, did *not*analyze the content of Lai’s calls for sanctions. 

Judge Esther Toh Lye-ping soon hit back at that ground and said: “Professor Wang is not the court.” She added that all three judges were not experts in foreign laws, which prompted the prosecution to submit a report. 

Judge Alex Lee Wan-tang pointed out that the court will have to learn and rule if the “sanction” called by Lai towards foreign countries is the same as the “sanction” under article 29 of the Hong Kong National Security Law. 

Although the defense wished to focus on the prosecution’s proof of the causal relationship, Toh said the prosecution needed not to do so. She also said today’s arguments should center around the correlation between the report and collusion charges. 

The judges then retired from the court to deliberate for about an hour and ruled that the report could be accepted as evidence by the prosecution. They explained that the prosecution had said they would rely on the report for the sanctions imposed by the U.S. but not by other countries. 

The judges also believed that the report can help the court understand the legislation histories of foreign laws and assist the court in handing down a verdict. 

They added that the court will give weight to what parts of the report to be accepted in the future, and stressed they remain fair and just. 

Anthony Chau Tin-hang, deputy director of public prosecutions, revealed that they will summon former Next Digital CEO Cheung Kim-hung starting tomorrow (Wed). Chau expected it will take about a week to question Cheung. 

The defense also confirmed instructions from Lai that the prosecution can summon Cheung to testify first despite the absence of leading defense counsel Robert Pang Yiu-hung.