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☆ Hong Kong court rejects challenge by jailed media tycoon Lai over British lawyer
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Jessie Pang | Thomson Reuters | Jessie Pang Joined Reuters In After An Internship. She Covers Hong Kong With A Focus On Politics | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, May 19 (Reuters) - A Hong Kong court on Friday dismissed an attempt by jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai to challenge a decision by security officials to effectively bar his British lawyer from representing him in a landmark national security trial. Lai's legal team filed a judicial review after Hong Kong's National Security Committee (NSC), headed by senior Hong Kong and Chinese officials, ruled that the admission of senior British barrister Timothy Owen could harm national security and advised Hong Kong authorities to reject his visa. Chief High Court judge Jeremy Poon, in dismissing Lai's challenge, said Hong Kong courts essentially had no authority over the National Security Committee. "You cannot have a body which can simply say magic words (on) national security, and be able to be free from any challenge," Pang said. Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 after months of anti-government protests.

☆ Hong Kong restricts foreign lawyers from national security cases
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Jessie Pang | Thomson Reuters | Jessie Pang Joined Reuters In After An Internship. She Covers Hong Kong With A Focus On Politics | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, May 10 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's legislature passed a legal amendment on Wednesday to prevent foreign lawyers working on national security cases, a restriction critics say will undermine fair trials and the right of defendants to choose their lawyers. The amendment enshrines in law a ruling from China's top lawmaking body last December that Hong Kong courts must get the approval of the city's leader before admitting a foreign lawyer without Hong Kong qualifications for national security cases. It would also discourage some foreign lawyers from getting Hong Kong restricts foreign lawyers from national security casesinvolved, he said. "The vague definition of 'cases concerning national security' in the bill implies that the government can arbitrarily use the new powers to allow or prohibit foreign lawyers from taking up local cases, whatever civil or criminal, on the over-broad ground of 'national security'," Lai said. Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 after months of anti-government protests.

☆ Opinion | Hong Kong’s Memory Is Being Erased
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Louisa Lim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In Hong Kong the silence has set in much more quickly. I worked in Hong Kong’s once-cacophonous newsrooms and covered its boisterous protest rallies. Now most Hong Kong journalists I know have fallen silent. After a draconian national security law was imposed on Hong Kong in 2020, at least 12 news outlets closed down, including the popular, pro-democracy Apple Daily. History is identity, and to challenge this foundational tenet of Hong Kongers’ experience is to assault their identity.

WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - Forty of the 100 U.S. senators co-sponsored a resolution on Wednesday urging a strong U.S. government response to any Chinese efforts to clamp down on dissent in Hong Kong, including the use of sanctions and other tools. The resolution is non-binding, but is intended to convey a strong sense that lawmakers are closely watching events in China and will respond. China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 outlawing acts including subversion with up to life in prison. The law has been criticized by some Western governments as a tool to crush dissent, but the Chinese and Hong Kong governments say it has restored stability to the city after protracted pro-democracy protests in 2019. Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: Prize-winning reporter Seymour Hersh no stranger to controversy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Journalist Seymour Hersh speaks at the Al Jazeera Forum "Media and the Middle East - Beyond the Headlines" in Doha April 1, 2007. REUTERS/Fadi Al-AssaadFeb 9 (Reuters) - Pulitzer Prize-winning U.S. reporter Seymour Hersh said this week that U.S. Navy divers, in a CIA operation ordered by President Joe Biden, planted explosives that destroyed three Russian gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea last September. The White House dismissed Hersh's report, which relied on a single source to support its claim about the destruction of the Nordstream pipelines, as "utterly false and complete fiction." Here are some key events in Hersh's career:- Hersh in 1969 exposed the massacre of South Vietnamese villagers by U.S. troops in the hamlet of My Lai. Both governments denied Hersh's allegations that Pakistan had been holding bin Laden prisoner and knew about the raid in advance.

☆ The claim by a discredited journalist that the US secretly blew up the Nord Stream pipeline is proving a gift to Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Once-celebrated journalist Seymour Hersh made unproven claims the US blew up the Nord Stream pipelines. In Russia, Hersh's story was immediately greeted with a sense of vindication. Biden had said he opposed opening the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and saying the US could "bring an end to" it if Russia invaded Ukraine. The invasion did take place, and officials in Germany — where the pipeline was due to pump its gas — axed the project before Nord Stream 2 moved any gas. Nord Stream 1 kept pumping until the explosion.

☆ British minister met Hong Kong tycoon Lai's legal team, Downing Street says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The legal team of Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy Hong Kong tycoon sentenced to over five years in jail last month, met a British junior foreign office minister on Tuesday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson said. "The British government will always support rights and freedoms and the rule of law," the spokesperson told reporters. "The foreign office ... has provided support for Jimmy Lai for some time, and Minister for Asia Anne-Marie Trevelyan has met his legal team today." Reporting by Andrew MacAskill, writing by Alistair Smout, editing by Elizabeth PiperOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China gives Hong Kong leader power to bar overseas lawyers in national security cases
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Industry Insight | Saw Law Firms Move Past The Pandemic Into A More Client-Focused Service Environment | Thomson Reuters Institute | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The NPCSC ruling said Hong Kong courts must now obtain approval from the chief executive before admitting any foreign lawyer without local qualifications to work on national security cases. Under the national security law, the decisions made by the committee cannot be challenged by a judicial review. "Beyond national security cases, then they are most welcome, provided that they satisfied the procedure to obtain an ad hoc admission approval by the court," Lee said. The founder of now shut pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, Lai is one of the most prominent Hong Kong critics of China's Communist Party leadership, including Xi Jinping. Reporting by Hong Kong newsroom; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China Lets Hong Kong Leader Override Courts Over Jimmy Lai Lawyer
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Selina Cheng | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Jimmy Lai, in a file photo from February 2021, was a fierce critic of Beijing and its rule in Hong Kong. HONG KONG—China’s top legislative body said Hong Kong’s leader has the power to override the courts to determine whether overseas lawyers can participate in national security cases, a ruling that will likely prevent dissident publisher Jimmy Lai from hiring a U.K. barrister in his coming trial. Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee sought Beijing’s intervention last month after the city’s top court overruled the government and said Mr. Lai could hire U.K. lawyer Timothy Owen to represent him in the national security trial.

Dec 12 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever. So far this month we have had 'hawkish' hikes from Australia and India, countered by a 'dovish' hike from Canada. chartBut as China's COVID curbs fade, China's health system will be severely tested and the impact on its 1.4 billion population remains to be seen. Annual inflation in India is expected to have slowed to 6.4% in November from 6.77% in October, which would be the lowest since February. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Hong Kong jails pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai over fraud
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai leaves the Court of Final Appeal after his bail was denied in Hong Kong on Feb. 9, 2021. A Hong Kong court sentenced a pro-democracy media tycoon to five years and nine months in prison on Saturday over two fraud charges linked to lease violations, the latest of a series of cases against prominent activists that critics say are aimed at crushing dissent in the city. Jimmy Lai, who was arrested during a crackdown on the city's pro-democracy movement following widespread protests in 2019 and under the National Security Law imposed by Beijing, was also fined 2 million Hong Kong dollars ($257,000). The second fraud count was for letting the same firm use the media outlet's office space in an alleged breach of lease agreements from 1998 to 2015. The court at that time ruled the moves had violated lease agreements with the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corp. and that Lai had hidden the fact that the company was occupying space in the building.

☆ Hong Kong Media Tycoon Jimmy Lai Gets Another Jail Term After Fraud Conviction
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Austin Ramzy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

HONG KONG— Jimmy Lai , the staunchly pro-democracy Hong Kong media tycoon, was sentenced by a Hong Kong court Saturday to more than five years in prison for fraud over a sublease at the former headquarters of his media company. Mr. Lai, whose widely read publications were some of the most aggressive critics of China’s Communist Party and its locally appointed leaders, has been one of the chief targets of the crackdown that followed mass antigovernment protests that swept the city in 2019.

☆ Hong Kong jails pro-democracy media tycoon over fraud
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A Hong Kong court sentenced a pro-democracy media tycoon to five years and nine months in prison on Saturday over two fraud charges linked to lease violations, the latest of a series of cases against prominent activists that critics say are aimed at crushing dissent in the city. Jimmy Lai, who was arrested during a crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement following widespread protests in 2019 and under the National Security Law imposed by Beijing, was also fined 2 million Hong Kong dollars ($257,000). His media company, Next Digital, published the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. His national security trial, initially scheduled to begin on Dec. 1, was postponed after Hong Kong leader John Lee asked China to effectively block him from hiring a British defense lawyer. Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to China’s rule in 1997.

[1/2] Media mogul Jimmy Lai, founder of Apple Daily, leaves the Court of Final Appeal by prison van in Hong Kong, China February 9, 2021. REUTERS/Tyrone SiuHONG KONG, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Pro-democracy Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced on Saturday to five years and nine months in prison for fraud, convicted of violating a lease contract for the headquarters of a liberal newspaper he used to run. Lai's lawyer, Derek Chan, had urged the judge to consider Lai's age and contributions to Hong Kong's media industry. A separate, landmark national security trial involving Lai is scheduled to resume on Tuesday. ($1 = 7.7854 Hong Kong dollars)Reporting by Jessie Pang and James Pomfret; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Hong Kong CNN —A Hong Kong court on Saturday sentenced jailed media mogul Jimmy Lai to five years and nine months in prison for fraud, in the latest legal challenge against the pro-democracy tycoon. Along with the jail sentence, Lai was also fined 2 million Hong Kong dollars ($257,000) and disqualified as a company director for eight years. Lai, who has been remanded in custody for almost two years, is also facing a trial under Hong Kong’s sweeping national security law. However, cases under the national security law are handled by a dedicated branch of the Hong Kong police and designated national security judges, raising concern about Beijing’s potential influence on proceedings. In November, Hong Kong’s highest court upheld a verdict to allow a British barrister to represent the tycoon in his national security case.

☆ Hong Kong court adjourns trial of tycoon and China critic Jimmy Lai
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/4] Armed police stand guard as they escort a prison van that is believed to carry media mogul Jimmy Lai, founder of Apple Daily, to the High Court in Hong Kong, China, December 1, 2022. REUTERS/Tyrone SiuHONG KONG, Dec 1 (Reuters) - A Hong Kong court on Thursday adjourned to Dec. 13 the high-profile trial of tycoon and China critic Jimmy Lai, who is charged with two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign countries or external elements, and one count of collusion with foreign forces under a national security law. Lai is also charged with conspiracy to print seditious publications. Reporting by Hong Kong Newsroom; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Jimmy Lai Faces Communist Justice in Hong Kong
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Paul A. Gigot | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/jimmy-lai-faces-communist-justice-national-security-law-jail-apple-daily-next-media-hong-kong-freedom-first-amendment-11669635137

[1/4] Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee delivers his first annual policy address at the Legislative Council in Hong Kong, China October 19, 2022. REUTERS/Tyrone SiuHONG KONG, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Hong Kong leader John Lee said on Tuesday the central government in Beijing was "highly concerned" about the issue of foreign lawyers appearing in national security cases, with a landmark legal interpretation on the matter by Beijing expected soon. Lee said Hong Kong authorities are seeking a delay to the start of the trial. "It is a grim moment," said one veteran Hong Kong criminal lawyer. Hong Kong officials, including Lee, have said repeatedly that Hong Kong is strongly committed to the rule of law, and its independent judicial power is constitutionally protected.

☆ Hong Kong to Seek Beijing’s Intervention After Top Court Rules in Favor of Jimmy Lai
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Selina Cheng | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Jimmy Lai, seen nearly two years ago, was a key figure in the protests against China’s tightening of its authority over Hong Kong. HONG KONG—Chief executive John Lee said he would seek Beijing’s intervention after Hong Kong’s top court ruled against the government in a national security case involving pro-democracy newspaper tycoon Jimmy Lai . The Court of Final Appeal on Monday rejected a government bid to stop a senior lawyer from the U.K. representing Mr. Lai at his coming trial on collusion charges, backing decisions by lower courts.

But Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal (CFA) on Monday gave a final ruling on the matter, rejecting the government's application to impose a "blanket ban" on foreign lawyers working on national security cases, bar exceptional circumstances. Lai is one of the most prominent Hong Kong critics of China's Communist Party leadership including Xi Jinping, and Hong Kong's Department of Justice made repeated attempts to block Owen from representing him. SWEEPING NATIONAL SECURITY LAWLee also said there was no means of ensuring a foreign lawyer would not divulge state secrets that might emerge during a national security trial. Beijing imposed the sweeping national security law on Hong Kong in June 2020 after sometimes-violent protests rocked the city for months the year before. Beijing's power of ultimate legal interpretation is outlined in the Basic Law, the mini-constitution that grants extensive Hong Kong autonomy and freedoms.

☆ Six former staff of Hong Kong newspaper plead guilty to conspiracy to collude
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Jessie Pang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Six former members of staff at Hong Kong's defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces in a closely watched national security case. Prosecutor Anthony Chau said Apple Daily was used as a platform to advocate for foreign sanctions. Beijing and Hong Kong's government denied that and accused the protesters of undermining the stability at the heart of Hong Kong's economic success, at the behest of foreigners. Lai and the six former Apple Daily staff members were charged with conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces under the law. Lai and his three companies have pleaded not guilty to the national security and sedition charges.

HONG KONG — After mass unrest in 2019, a pandemic that left it isolated from the world and the imposition of a national security law that has crushed dissent, Hong Kong is ready to turn the page. According to government statistics, about 319,000 people arrived in Hong Kong last month, down 97% from 10.8 million in October 2019. According to one report last month, Hong Kong has lost its status as Asia’s top financial center to Singapore. While it may not be realistic to expect businesses to turn away from China’s huge market, global business leaders “need to recognize that there’s a new situation in Hong Kong, there’s a new reality,” said Brian Kern, the lead researcher for a report on doing business in Hong Kong that was published last month by the Hong Kong Democracy Council, a nonprofit group based in Washington. Lee also pointed to a report in September in which Hong Kong topped Singapore as the world’s freest economy.

☆ U.S. blasts verdict against Hong Kong democracy advocate Jimmy Lai
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The United States condemns the verdict against Hong Kong democracy advocate Jimmy Lai on "spurious fraud charges," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Wednesday. Lai, founder of the Apple Daily newspaper, was found guilty Tuesday on fraud charges, according to media reports. "We remain deeply concerned about the deterioration in protection for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the systematic dismantling of Hong Kong’s autonomy under the National Security Law (NSL)," Price said. "These include increased efforts to wield the NSL to suppress independent media, to silence dissenting views, and to stifle freedom of speech." Reporting by Doina Chiacu; editing by Susan HeaveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

HONG KONG — A Hong Kong court found media tycoon Jimmy Lai guilty of fraud on Tuesday, the latest in a myriad of cases against Lai and other pro-democracy activists that critics say officials are using to stamp out dissent in the Chinese territory. Lai, 74, the founder of defunct pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, is among the most prominent activists to be prosecuted in the wake of anti-government protests that swept Hong Kong for months in 2019. Lai and co-defendant Wong Wai-keung, a former senior executive at Next Digital who was also convicted, both pleaded not guilty. Critics of the national security law say it has greatly eroded civil liberties in Hong Kong, the preservation of which had been promised for 50 years when the former British colony was returned to Chinese rule in 1997. An annual survey by the Committee to Protect Journalists found that the number of Hong Kong journalists it considers unjustly imprisoned for their work rose from zero to eight in 2021.

☆ După mai multe presiuni, cel mai mare ziar pro-democrație din Hong Kong și-a anunțat închiderea
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-23 | by ( Onixmedia Srl | ) diez.md time to read: 1 min

După mai multe presiuni, cel mai mare ziar pro-democrație din Hong Kong și-a anunțat închidereaCea mai importantă publicație pro-democrație din Hong Kong, Apple Daily, a anunțat că se închide, după un asalt fără precedent al autorităților, care au acuzat pe jurnaliștii că ar fi încălcat controversata lege a securității naționale a orașului. Birourile publicației au fost vizate săptămâna trecută de un val de percheziții, la care au participat peste 500 de polițiști. Poliția l-a reținut pe redactorul șef, dar și pe alte cinci persoane din conducere, relatează Digi24. Publicația este cunoscută pentru că, în mod constant, lansa critici la adresa conducerilor din Hong Kong și China. Fondatorul publicației, Jimmy Lai, este deja în închisoare pentru o serie de acuzații.

Persons: Jimmy Lai Organizations: Apple Locations: Hong Kong, China

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