21 May 2024法庭線#3555
Day 80 of Jimmy Lai trial | Prosecution continues playing interview clips; Lai says he never felt humiliated in handcuffs
壹傳媒創辦人黎智英與《蘋果日報》3 間相關公司，被控「串謀勾結外國勢力」等罪，案件周二（21 日）在西九龍裁判法院（暫代高等法院）展開第 80 日審訊。控方傳召社交媒體專家證人、港大計算機科學系副教授鄒錦沛供辯方盤問，問及通訊軟件、社交媒體等發訊功能。
控方另播放黎訪談節目「Live Chat with Jimmy Lai」，主持詢問黎有沒有說話想對支持者說，黎指，他已接近生命最後階段，自知在做正確的事，感到平靜、開心，「我冇一刻我隻手喺個手鐐下面，而係覺得自己好慘，或者覺得自己被屈辱⋯我所做嘅嘢唔係因為任何嘢，只係因為呢個地方實在對我太好」。案件周三（22 日）續審。
The trial of Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai and three companies related to Apple Daily, who are charged with offences including conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, entered its 80th day on Tuesday (21st) at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts, sitting as the High Court. The prosecution called social media expert witness and University of Hong Kong associate professor of computer science Kam Pui Chow for questioning by the defence on messaging software, social media and other functions for sending messages.
The prosecution also played excerpts from Lai’s interview programme, “Live Chat with Jimmy Lai”. Asked by the host whether he had anything to say to his supporters, Lai said he was approaching the final stage of his life, knew he was doing the right thing, and felt calm and happy. “Not for a moment, with my hands in handcuffs, did I feel that I was miserable or that I was being humiliated ... What I have done is not because of anything else, but simply because this place has been so good to me.” The trial will continue on Wednesday (22nd).
20 May 2024法庭線#3551
Day 79 of Jimmy Lai trial | Prosecution plays full interview footage at defence’s request; Lai says he opposes “Hong Kong independence”
壹傳媒創辦人黎智英與《蘋果日報》3 間相關公司，被控「串謀勾結外國勢力」等罪，案件周一（20 日）在西九龍裁判法院（暫代高等法院）展開第 79 日審訊。國安警黎國勇作供完畢，控方播放黎完整受訪片段及訪談節目「Live Chat with Jimmy Lai」，黎在片中提到「我很想美國影響我們」、非常需要外國勢力、不介意坐牢，並強調自己反對「港獨」。
案件周二（21 日）續審，控方擬傳召社交媒體專家證人、港大計算機科學系副教授鄒錦沛，讓辯方盤問。
Media tycoon Jimmy Lai and three companies associated with Apple Daily have been charged with offences including conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. The case entered its 79th day of trial on Monday (20th) at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts, sitting temporarily as the High Court. National security police officer Lai Kwok-yung completed his testimony. The prosecution played full footage of interviews with Lai, as well as the interview programme “Live Chat with Jimmy Lai”. In the footage, Lai said, “I very much want the United States to influence us”, that he very much needed foreign forces, and that he did not mind going to prison. He also stressed that he opposed “Hong Kong independence”.
The trial continues on Tuesday (21st). The prosecution plans to call a social media expert witness, Kam Pui Chow, an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Hong Kong, to be cross-examined by the defence.
19 May 2024法庭線#3550
47-person case charge analysis | How was the primary election, involving over 610,000 Hong Kong voters, alleged to be unlawful? How did the defence challenge the basis of the charges?
47 人案將於 5 月底裁決。這場歷時逾百天的審訊，關乎在《國安法》後舉行、錄得逾 61 萬港人投票的民主派立法會初選。它多番被指涉嫌違法，但推動者戴耀廷公開反駁，有資深大狀甚至行會成員亦曾經表達，不認同或不理解違法的指控。
初選是否違法？如何違法？——由投票日前、眾人被捕至案件開審，一直是核心議題。在進入 16 位不認罪被告做了或沒有做甚麼之前，《法庭線》由公訴書說起，控方如何將初選描繪、歸納為顛覆謀劃的一部分，而辯方又如何逐點爭議，挑戰指控的邏輯與法律基礎。
控辯的法律爭議，亦涵蓋如何詮釋由人大常委會制訂顛覆罪的元素，例如「非法手段」的定義，以至普通法原則的適用程度，成為 3 位指定法官在作出裁決時，必須回答的問題。
The 47-person case will be handed down at the end of May. The trial, which lasted more than 100 days, concerned the pro-democracy camp’s Legislative Council primary election held after the National Security Law came into force, in which more than 610,000 Hong Kong people voted. It was repeatedly alleged to have been unlawful, but organiser Benny Tai publicly rejected that view; some senior counsel and even Executive Council members had also expressed disagreement with, or a lack of understanding of, the allegations of illegality.
Was the primary election unlawful? How was it unlawful? These have been central issues from before polling day, through the defendants’ arrests, to the start of the trial. Before examining what the 16 defendants who pleaded not guilty did or did not do, The Witness starts with the indictment: how the prosecution portrayed and categorised the primary election as part of a conspiracy to subvert state power, and how the defence disputed this point by point and challenged the logic and legal basis of the charges.
The legal disputes between the prosecution and defence also cover how to interpret the elements of the offence of subversion enacted by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, including the definition of “unlawful means”, as well as the extent to which common-law principles apply. These are questions that the three designated judges must answer when delivering their judgment.
18 May 2024法庭線#3548
Jimmy Lai case | Andy Li’s 15 days of testimony: How was SWHK formed, and how did it shift from newspaper ads to international lobbying?
黎智英國安案於 2023 年底開審，控方先後傳召 3 名《蘋果》前高層「從犯證人」作供，內容主要針對《蘋果》的運作及黎智英的角色。審訊隨後進入另一範疇，控方傳召「12 港人」之一的李宇軒作供，李主要講述於 2019 年下半年進行的 3 次眾籌登報計劃，及「SWHK （重光團隊）」的成立及運作，以至其個人國際遊說行動，對《國安法》的想法等。
李宇軒於 2024 年 3 月 13 日首日出庭，於 4 月 11 日完成 15 日作供。《法庭線》整合連日內容，讓讀者更易理解供詞重點。
The trial of Jimmy Lai under the National Security Law began at the end of 2023. The prosecution subsequently called three former Apple Daily executives as “accomplice witnesses”, whose evidence mainly concerned the operation of Apple Daily and Lai’s role. The trial then moved to another area, with the prosecution calling Andy Li, one of the “Hong Kong 12”, to testify. Li mainly described three crowdfunding campaigns to place newspaper advertisements in the second half of 2019, as well as the formation and operation of SWHK (Stand with Hong Kong), his personal international lobbying efforts and his views on the National Security Law.
Li first appeared in court on 13 March 2024 and completed 15 days of testimony on 11 April. The Court Line compiled the evidence given over those days to make the key points of his testimony easier for readers to understand.
17 May 2024法庭線#3547
Day 78 of Jimmy Lai trial｜National security officer recounts taking Chan Tsz-wah’s statement; order bans disclosure of witness protection details
壹傳媒創辦人黎智英與《蘋果日報》3 間相關公司，被控「串謀勾結外國勢力」等罪，案件周五（17 日）在西九龍裁判法院（暫代高等法院）展開第 78 日審訊，國安警在辯方盤問下，講述到羈押中心替陳梓華錄取口供的過程。
另外，法庭頒下命令，指任何人包括媒體及公眾，不得以任何方式披露證人保護計劃下的證人身分、身處位置，或危害此人安全的資料，以免損害司法公義；違反命令可被控藐視法庭。案件押後至下周一（20 日）續審。
Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai and three companies related to Apple Daily have been charged with “conspiracy to collude with a foreign country or with external elements” and other offences. The case entered its 78th day of trial on Friday (17th) at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts, temporarily exercising the jurisdiction of the High Court. Under questioning by the defence, a national security police officer described the process of taking Chan Tsz-wah’s statement at a detention centre.
The court also issued an order prohibiting anyone, including the media and the public, from disclosing by any means the identity or whereabouts of a witness under the witness protection programme, or any information that could endanger the person’s safety, to avoid compromising the administration of justice. Breach of the order may constitute contempt of court. The case was adjourned until next Monday (20th).
16 May 2024法庭線#3538
Lai Chee-ying case: Day 77 hearing | Police officer spoke with Cheung Kim-hung in prison for over three hours, denies lobbying him to become prosecution witness
壹傳媒創辦人黎智英與《蘋果日報》3 間相關公司，被控「串謀勾結外國勢力」等罪，案件周四（16 日）在西九龍裁判法院（暫代高等法院）展開第 77 日審訊。辯方早前申請重召「從犯證人」前壹傳媒行政總裁張劍虹，就 Slack 平台提問，法官周四拒絕辯方申請，指不論這個遲來的申請動機是甚麼，重召張劍虹明顯不符司法公正。
另外，控方應辯方要求傳召國安警黎國勇，黎供稱 2021 年 11 月 11 日往荔枝角收押所，向張劍虹派發有關其申請保釋的判詞，兩人傾談獄中日常逾 3 小時，張提議對方翌日再探訪。張翌日表示任控方證人，黎供稱對此感驚訝，並否認首次探訪與對方聊天，是想遊說張成為控方證人。案件周五（17 日）續審。
Media tycoon and Apple Daily founder Lai Chee-ying and three companies associated with Apple Daily are charged with offences including conspiracy to collude with a foreign power. The case entered its 77th day of hearing at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts, sitting as the High Court, on Thursday (16th). The defence had earlier applied to recall former Next Digital chief executive Cheung Kim-hung, an “accomplice witness”, to question him about the Slack platform. The judge rejected the application on Thursday, saying that regardless of the motivation behind the late application, recalling Cheung was plainly contrary to the interests of justice.
At the defence’s request, the prosecution also called national security police officer Lai Kwok-wing. Lai testified that he went to Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre on 11 November 2021 to give Cheung a judgment concerning his bail application. The two spoke for more than three hours about daily life in prison, and Cheung suggested that Lai visit again the next day. Cheung said the following day that he would act as a prosecution witness. Lai testified that he was surprised and denied that his conversation with Cheung during the first visit was intended to persuade him to become a prosecution witness. The hearing will continue on Friday (17th).
16 May 2024法庭線#3540
First terrorism case｜Defence says Victor Chun Keung Wong fabricated claim that co-defendant knew of plan to kill police officers to facilitate guilty plea; Wong denies it
《反恐條例》首案，7 人不認罪，周四（16 日）在高等法院踏入第 17 天審訊。認罪被告、自稱「屠龍小隊」隊長黃振強續接受盤問。辯方續關注黃的承認案情，與其庭上供詞有出入。黃確認部分承認案情與事實不符，稱「呢啲係控方攞出嚟，佢話幾多就幾多㗎啦。」
黃另指，曾致電涉協助籌款的被告劉佩凝，講述將有人使用槍和炸彈，著努力協助眾籌。辯方質疑，黃事隔近 4 年才透露通話內容，形容是「無從對證」，質疑黃為配合認罪，「作出嚟去誣衊」被告；黃不同意。
黃另被問及，除了「殺警計劃」外，有否作出其他行為涉恐怖主義，黃稱「用汽油彈我都覺得算係嘅」，指曾蓄意將汽油彈擲向警員身上。
In the first case under the anti-terrorism law, seven defendants have pleaded not guilty. The trial entered its 17th day at the High Court on Thursday (16th). Victor Chun Keung Wong, the defendant who pleaded guilty and described himself as captain of the “Dragon Slaying Brigade squad”, continued to be cross-examined. The defence continued to focus on discrepancies between Wong’s admitted facts and his testimony in court. Wong confirmed that parts of the admitted facts did not accord with the facts, saying: “The prosecution brought these out; whatever it said, that was it.”
Wong also said he had called defendant Lau Pui-ying, who was involved in helping with fundraising, and told the defendant that someone would use guns and bombs, urging the defendant to make efforts to assist the crowdfunding. The defence questioned why Wong had waited nearly four years to disclose the content of the call, describing it as “impossible to corroborate”, and accused Wong of making it up to smear the defendant in order to facilitate his guilty plea. Wong disagreed.
Wong was also asked whether, apart from the “plan to kill police officers”, he had committed any other acts involving terrorism. Wong said, “I also think using petrol bombs counts,” and said he had deliberately thrown petrol bombs at police officers.
14 May 2024法庭線#3531
Jimmy Lai case: Defence applies to recall Cheung Kim-hung on day 76; ruling adjourned to Thursday
壹傳媒創辦人黎智英與《蘋果日報》3 間相關公司，被控「串謀勾結外國勢力」等罪，案件周二（14 日）在西九龍裁判法院（暫代高等法院）展開第 76 日審訊。辯方申請重召「從犯證人」前壹傳媒行政總裁張劍虹，就 Slack 平台提問，控辯雙方就此陳詞。
辯方指，在張劍虹作供前，沒有 Slack 紀錄截圖，為了司法公正、保障黎的利益，應重召張。惟法官多番質疑，黎是 Slack 群組一員，怎會不知道 Slack 的存在，又指辯方不能把責任推到控方身上。控方則指，控方責任只是舉證，質疑辯方重召證人或造成司法不公。
法官聽畢雙方陳詞，押至周四（16 日）續審，就是否批准重召張劍虹裁決。另外，控方表示應辯方要求傳召的 5 名警員，亦會在當日準備好。
Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai and three companies linked to Apple Daily are charged with offences including conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. The trial resumed on Tuesday (the 14th) at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts, sitting as the High Court, for its 76th day. The defence applied to recall former Next Digital chief executive Cheung Kim-hung, an “accomplice witness”, to question him about the Slack platform, and both sides made submissions on the application.
The defence said there were no screenshots of Slack records before Cheung gave evidence and that, in the interests of justice and to protect Lai’s interests, Cheung should be recalled. The judge repeatedly questioned how Lai, as a member of the Slack group, could have been unaware of Slack’s existence, and said the defence could not shift responsibility onto the prosecution. The prosecution said its responsibility was only to present evidence and questioned whether recalling the witness might result in a miscarriage of justice.
After hearing submissions from both sides, the judge adjourned the trial to Thursday (the 16th) to rule on whether Cheung would be recalled. The prosecution also said that the five police officers to be called at the defence’s request would be ready that day.
13 May 2024法庭線#3523
Jimmy Lai Case: Day 75 — Defence Applies to Recall Cheung Kim-hung; Prosecution Calls Defence Lawyer Johnny Chun Hao Ho to Testify
壹傳媒創辦人黎智英與《蘋果日報》3 間相關公司，被控「串謀勾結外國勢力」等罪，案件周一（13 日）在西九龍裁判法院（暫代高等法院）展開第 75 日審訊。控方傳畢 6 名關鍵證人，辯方申請重召「從犯證人」前壹傳媒行政總裁張劍虹，就 Slack 平台提問，控方就此傳召辯方律師何俊豪作供。
何供稱今年一月，在本案第 18 日審訊，張劍虹在盤問下，首次提到 Slack 平台。辯方曾向控方索取 Slack 紀錄，控方回答沒有，辯方經調查後終取得紀錄，形容過程「都唔容易」，最終由黎的女兒告知法律團隊，已獲得 Slack 紀錄。案件周二（14 日）續審，料控辯雙方就申請重召張劍虹一事陳詞。
Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai and three companies related to Apple Daily are charged with, among other offences, conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. The case entered its 75th day of trial on Monday (13th) at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts, sitting as the High Court. After the prosecution finished calling six key witnesses, the defence applied to recall “accomplice witness” Cheung Kim-hung, former chief executive officer of Next Digital, to ask questions about the Slack platform. The prosecution consequently called defence lawyer Johnny Chun Hao Ho to testify.
He said that in January this year, during the 18th day of the trial, Cheung first mentioned the Slack platform under cross-examination. The defence had requested Slack records from the prosecution, which replied that it had none. After investigating, the defence eventually obtained the records and described the process as “not easy”. Lai’s daughter ultimately informed the legal team that the Slack records had been obtained. The trial will continue on Tuesday (14th), when both sides are expected to make submissions on the application to recall Cheung Kim-hung.
10 May 2024法庭線#3518
Jimmy Lai case: Day 74 of trial｜Expert witness Gui Guo Wang says wording in US sanctions legislation is highly subjective and may lead to misunderstanding or abuse
壹傳媒創辦人黎智英與《蘋果日報》3 間相關公司，被控「串謀勾結外國勢力」等罪，案件周五（10 日）在西九龍裁判法院（暫代高等法院）展開第 74 日審訊，第六名控方證人、壹傳媒集團營運總裁兼時任財務總裁周達權完成作供。
控方讀出專家證人、城大法律學院教授王貴國的書面供詞，提到美國財政部宣布制裁時任特首林鄭月娥、時任警務處處長鄧炳強。針對《香港人權與民主法案》，王貴國認為目標對象為「特殊引渡」、任意拘留，或在港作出嚴重侵犯人權行為人士，條文中的「負責」、「隨意」和「嚴重」為高度主觀用字，而且須與美國其他法律一同詮釋，認為無可避免造成誤解甚至濫用。
案件下周一（13 日）續審，處理辯方申請重召控方證人張劍虹，就工作平台 Slack 內容提問。控方表示，擬向辯方律師何俊豪作相關提問，再回應辯方申請。
Jimmy Lai, founder of Next Digital, and three companies linked to Apple Daily have been charged with offences including conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. The case entered its 74th day of trial on Friday (10th) at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts, sitting temporarily as the High Court. Cheung Tat-kwong, the sixth prosecution witness, chief operating officer of the Next Digital Group and its then chief financial officer, completed his testimony.
The prosecution read out the written testimony of expert witness and City University law professor Gui Guo Wang. It said the US Treasury had announced sanctions against then Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and then Commissioner of Police Tang Ping-keung. Regarding the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, Gui Guo Wang said its targets were people responsible for “extraordinary rendition”, arbitrary detention or serious human rights violations in Hong Kong. The terms “responsible”, “arbitrary” and “serious” in the legislation were highly subjective and had to be interpreted together with other US laws, which he considered would inevitably lead to misunderstanding and even abuse.
The trial will continue next Monday (13th) to deal with the defence application to recall prosecution witness Cheung Kim-hung for questions about content on the work platform Slack. The prosecution said it intended to ask defence lawyer Johnny Chun Hao Ho related questions before responding to the defence application.
Translations are supplied by the source workbook. Consult the original reporting for context.
