Lai 'was in touch with those calling for sanctions'

Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying was found to have contacted British politicians before and after the promulgation of the national security law in Hong Kong.

That emerged from the prosecution's replaying, on the 89th day of his national security trial, of videos found on his phone, and the politicians included those who had called for the imposition of sanctions on Beijing and Hong Kong.

The videos, totaling around two hours, did not feature Lai directly but were mostly sent to him by Hong Kong Watch founder Benedict Rogers and Luke de Pulford, the head of the Conservative Party's human rights commission.

In a May 25, 2020, In Conversation with Benedict Rogers show, guest Lord David Alton referred to a joint petition initiated by Hong Kong's last governor Chris Patten to oppose the law, which had garnered the support of around 200 councillors and politicians from over 23 countries by then.

Alton agreed that London should push the Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and impose sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials.

The court also heard an August 19, 2020, video clip in which then US president Donald Trump praised Lai as a "wonderful gentleman and certainly a brave man."

Trump said the United States had provided Hong Kong with "tremendous incentives and subsidy" for the sake of freedom, which "seemed to have been taken away" and that it would retrieve these incentives.

Also heard was an audio recording in which Lai told then Apple Daily associate publisher Chan Pui-man that he hoped the paper's English edition (launched in May 2020) would focus on negative news about Beijing, such as revealing the mainland's purported attempt to conceal the Covid-19 pandemic's origins.

The trial was adjourned to Tuesday afternoon, as the prosecution needs time to prepare a translated version of the documents related to the case. The prosecution's case is expected to finish on that date.

The case also involves Lai's three companies - Apple Daily, Apple Daily Printing, and AD Internet.

His legal team will file a half-time submission of no case to answer on June 18, while the prosecution will file its written submission on June 25, and the defense will then submit its response on July 2.

The court has reserved July 9 for both sides to deliver their oral submissions.