A judge hearing Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s national security trial has argued that the media misled Hong Kong residents into opposing a later-withdrawn extradition bill that triggered the 2019 anti-government protests.
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A brief political debate ensued at West Kowloon Court upon the resumption of the defence’s closing submissions in the trial of the Apple Daily founder on Tuesday, in which lawyers sought to justify the newspaper’s unfavourable portrayal of the proposed legal amendment as promoting public debate on the matter.
Robert Pang Yiu-hung SC said the now-defunct news outlet could be exempt from criminal liability because its allegedly seditious articles were only intended for lawful purposes, including exposing government failings, or showing that the city leader at the time was “misled or mistaken” about the propriety of its measures.
Pang, in response to the court’s request to substantiate that argument using the extradition bill, said the government was wrong in believing it should press ahead with legislation to enable the transfer of fugitives to mainland China and Taiwan, despite serious public concerns and insufficient consultation.
He stressed that there was no absolute right or wrong in politics and that Apple Daily had a duty to encourage public discourse through the sharing of information.
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“That’s one of the spectrum of views that would be permitted in the course of the public discourse. You can’t simply have one side of views that the government is always right,” the lawyer said.
One of three presiding High Court judges, Madam Justice Esther Toh Lye-ping, contended that the media was responsible for the public’s “mistaken impression” of the bill.