The chief of the Bar Association has called on the public and foreign governments to review the judgment against former media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, convicted of national security offences, before forming their own opinions, acknowledging such verdicts could spark controversy amid differing values.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, association chairman Jose-Antonio Maurellet reaffirmed that Hong Kong’s judicial independence and the rule of law are “alive and strong”, despite the landmark national security trial of Lai’s case being subject to intense international scrutiny.
“In many jurisdictions, whether near or far from Hong Kong, a lot of judgments will raise a lot of controversy because society has become quite split in terms of its values,” Maurellet said, adding that it was inevitable for intense feelings to emerge over judgments involving certain people or issues.
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“Very often, what people will look at is not the reasoning … I doubt that many people who have said what they’ve stated have had the time to fully digest the entirety of the judgment.
“We, as lawyers, what we can do is simply invite people, in particular the people in Hong Kong, to go back, to look at what the law says, look at how it was applied, and to have trust and confidence as we have in the judicial process.”
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US President Donald Trump and leaders from other countries, including the United Kingdom and several European states, also weighed in on Lai’s verdict, urging Chinese President Xi Jinping to secure Lai’s release.