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Lai, the founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, is
one of the city's leading activists who was prosecuted under a
sweeping national security law during Beijing's crackdown on
dissent. He has been the subject of criticism by pro-Beijing
media outlets for years.
The 76-year-old brought the case against Ta Kung Pao in 2020,
alleging that the publication had maliciously suggested he was
planning to illegally abscond from the city and would breach his
bail condition.
On Thursday, judge Queeny Au Yeung ruled against Lai's bid,
saying the case requires a prolonged examination of documents.
“(It) is not suitable for jury trial and plainly not suitable
for putting only one or some questions to the jury, leaving the
rest to the trial judge,” she wrote in her judgement.
The libel case centered on an article published by Ta Kung Pao
headlined “Leaders who create chaos in Hong Kong plotting
escape, escape route exposed, charge one million dollars" on
June 25, 2020. The article named Lai as a potential suspect who
intended to abscond and evade criminal liability.
The paper denied the libel charge.
Many of Hong Kong's most prominent activists were arrested,
forced into self-exile or silenced since the 2020 security law
came into force. Lai's Apple Daily was shut down after the
arrests of its top management in 2021. The closure was widely
seen as an erosion of freedoms that were promised when the
former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Lai has suffered setbacks in his landmark security trial. Last
December, judges rejected his bid to throw out a sedition charge
against him. The court last year also refused to overturn Hong
Kong national security authorities' decision to block him from
hiring veteran British lawyer Timothy Owen. Lai will testify in
court in his defense for that security trial next month.
Lai is now serving a jail term of over five years after being
convicted in a separate fraud case. He has been in custody since
December 2020.
The U.S. and U.K. governments have called for Lai's release and
have criticised the security law, which the Beijing and Hong
Kong governments say is necessary for the city's stability.
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