'State Media Must Stop Attacks On HK's Judiciary'

Five members of the Law Society's governing body on Wednesday demanded that mainland state media stop their "unfounded attacks" on Hong Kong's judiciary.

Mark Daly, Michelle Tsoi, Davyd Wong, Kenneth Lam, and Janet Pang singled out an editorial by the People's Daily last weekend that said pro-democracy media tycoon and national security suspect Jimmy Lai should be tried on the mainland.

The editorial claimed that the High Court’s decision to grant Lai bail had drastically hurt the SAR's rule of law, and described the Apple Daily founder as an “extremely dangerous” person.

In their statement, the five lawyers warned that the editorial could be seen as putting pressure on the judiciary ahead of an appeal hearing over the bail decision, and could also prejudice Lai's right to a fair trial.

They called for an end to “unfounded attacks against the judiciary” by state media and for Justice Secretary Teresa Cheng to defend the judiciary against such “unwarranted actions”.

"This type of commentary appearing in a newspaper run/controlled by the central government... is particularly worrying and borders on an attempt to interfere with the due administration of justice by Hong Kong’s independent judiciary," they said.

The solicitors also expressed concern over whether a fair trial could be guaranteed if the mainland takes over any national security cases under Article 55 of the new law.

"The NSL (national security law) lacks adequate protections to safeguard an accused’s fundamental human rights and lacks legal certainty," they said, noting that the group of Hongkongers arrested at sea last summer were denied the right to an open trial on the mainland and to appoint lawyers of their choice.

Lai is charged under the national security law with colluding with foreign powers, and he also faces a separate fraud charge in relation to his business use of Next Digital's headquarters in Tseung Kwan O.

The Court of Final Appeal is on Thursday expected to hear a government challenge over the High Court's decision to release Lai on bail and put him under house arrest.