The former publisher of shuttered pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily was trying to “put the blame” on media mogul Jimmy Lai with his “contradictory” testimony, Lai’s lawyer has said in the activist’s closely-watched national security trial.
Wearing a dark-coloured down jacket, Cheung Kim-hung took to the witness stand for the 10th day on Wednesday. Cheung, who has pleaded guilty to conspiring to collude with foreign forces, is testifying against his former employer.
Senior counsel Robert Pang, representing Lai, referred to statements that Cheung made to the High Court in June 2021, when Cheung applied for bail following his arrest. His bail application ultimately failed and Cheung has been in remand since.
In the affidavit shown in court on Wednesday, Cheung said Apple Daily’s parent company Next Digital Group had “strictly adhered” to the principle of editorial independence, and that the editorial department and senior management worked independently.
Cheung also said the editorial department was not required to seek comments or approval from senior management, which included him.
This, Pang said, was “directly contradictory” to his testimony during the trial, in which Cheung said that Lai gave editorial directions and that as a senior manager, Cheung was tasked with ensuring they were implemented.
“You have been telling the court that Mr Lai was involved in giving editorial directions, but that is directly contradictory to paragraph 24 [of the affidavit],” Pang said.
Cheung, responding in Cantonese, said editorial independence referred to not allowing financial or operational concerns to affect editorial decisions.
In the affidavit, Cheung had also said that since his promotion in 2017, his job duties were “exclusively managerial and operational” with a focus on business development, and that he no longer handled editorial matters.
Addressing Cheung’s alleged inconsistencies, Pang said: “I put to you, Mr Cheung, that your evidence in your affidavit… is inconsistent with your testimony in court because you want to put the blame on Mr Lai.”
“And you are doing so in the hope that you will receive a lighter sentence for the charge that you have pleaded guilty,” the senior counsel added.
Cheung said he disagreed with the lawyer.
Lai, 76, faces charges of conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the national security law, and conspiring to publish “seditious” materials under the colonial-era law. He has pleaded not guilty and faces up to life imprisonment if convicted.
Cheung is among six senior Apple Daily employees who were charged alongside Lai with conspiring to collude with foreign forces. They pleaded guilty in November 2022 and will be sentenced after Lai’s trial.
After Cheung, former associate publisher Chan Pui-man and editorial writer Yeung Ching-kee are also set to testify against Lai.
‘We should keep going’
Lai’s high-profile national security trial, seen globally as a bellwether for the state of press freedom in Hong Kong, entered its 20th day on Wednesday.
Ahead of Pang challenging Cheung’s testimony, the ex-publisher told the court that he had visited Lai in custody in April 2021, about nine months after Beijing imposed a national security law in Hong Kong. Cheung told him that many of Apple Daily’s staff were worried that the newspaper would not be able to “make it past July 1,” and wondered if the company should cease the publication.
Cheung also told Lai that Chip Tsao, an Apple Daily columnist, had suggested in an op-ed that perhaps Apple Daily should “put an end to itself.” Tsao said nobody would blame Apple Daily if they were to make such a decision, Cheung recalled.
The ex-publisher said Lai replied: “Why should we shut ourselves down? We should keep going until we are shut down while staying cautious in these times.”
Apple Daily eventually halted operations in June 2021 after a police raid and the arrest of top executives. Founded in 1995, the publication was one of Hong Kong’s most prominent newspapers and was known for its entertainment coverage as well as its pro-democracy stance.
The trial was adjourned to Thursday afternoon.
Lai’s trial is expected to last 80 days. He is appearing before a panel of three judges handpicked by the government to oversee national security cases, and no jury, a departure from the city’s common law system.
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