Hong Kong’s High Court on Monday upheld the permission of British lawyer Timothy Owen to appear in the national security case against Jimmy Loi, the founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper.
Jimmy Lai is due to go on trial on Thursday under the strictest national security law introduced by China to crack down on the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.
On the 9th, the regional court gave permission to Timothy Owen, a legendary lawyer from London, to defend Jimmy Loi in this trial.
The Secretary of Justice of Hong Kong filed a petition in the High Court against this. The Court of Appeal, which reviewed the petition, re-affirmed the leave granted to attorney Timothy Owen to appear for Jim Loy.
Hong Kong, which was a British colony, was handed back to China in 1997. At the time, China agreed to rule Hong Kong under the principle of ‘one country, two systems’. Accordingly, Hongkongers were said to have rights that were not available to residents of China.
However, the government crushed the protests in the region demanding democratic reforms with an iron hand. Also, the Chinese Parliament passed the questionable National Security Law in 2020. Using that law, many pro-democracy activists were arrested.
As part of that, Jim Lai, the founder of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was sentenced to 20 months in prison for inciting protests in 2019. The newspaper was also stopped due to the government’s actions.
Apart from that, an additional case has been registered against him under the National Security Act, which has criminal sections like subversion of sovereignty, terrorism and conspiring with foreign powers.
The British prosecutor has now been allowed to appear in support of Jimmy Loi in the trial of the case that could have resulted in a life sentence.