Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai (2nd left) arrives at the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong on Dec 31, 2020. (PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY)

The Hong Kong High Court on Tuesday rejected Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s application for a judicial review over a warrant allowing police access to Lai’s two cellphones seized during the media tycoon’s arrest on national security charges two years ago. 

In issuing his ruling on Tuesday, Judge Wilson Chan Ka-shun said the freedom of the press guaranteed by the Basic Law is not absolute, and that it does not refer to a prohibition on the disclosure of news materials

Lai, 74, last month had requested a judicial review to revoke the warrant that Chief Magistrate Peter Law Tak-chuen issued on July 8, which allows police to review the information obtained from Lai’s cellphones, including over 8,000 news-related items.

The warrant was issued under the Implementation Rules for Article 43 of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

In issuing his ruling on Tuesday, Judge Wilson Chan Ka-shun said the freedom of the press guaranteed by the Basic Law is not absolute, and that it does not refer to a prohibition on the disclosure of news materials.

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News materials are not paramount, and in some cases their disclosure serves the public interest, Chan said.

Article 43 of the National Security Law for Hong Kong gives the police additional powers to investigate, and the “specified evidence” mentioned in the implementation rules refers to any evidence that endangers national security, which does not exclude news materials, Chan said.

This general view shows the High Court building in Hong Kong on August 17, 2017. (ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)

Article 43 of the National Security Law for Hong Kong gives the police additional powers to investigate, and the “specified evidence” mentioned in the implementation rules refers to any evidence that endangers national security, which does not exclude news materials, Chan said

Chan dismissed the defendant’s argument that a magistrate has no right to issue a warrant, saying that the claim was a distraction. Decisions to issue warrants depends on how the court weighs the public interest, and magistrates have discretion in such matters, he added.

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In August 2020, police seized Lai’s two cellphones when they arrested him. The cellphones were later sealed by the court on the grounds that they contained news materials.

Lai’s application for a stay of the court’s decision to wait for his appeal was also rejected, but Chan later approved a seven-day stay of the court’s decision upon Lai’s appeal.

As the owner of the now-defunct tabloid Apple Daily, Lai and three Apple Daily-related companies are accused in the tabloid’s case of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces.

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The trial is scheduled to begin in the High Court on Dec 1, with Lai and the three companies pleading not guilty.

Pleas and sentencing for the other six defendants, who pleaded guilty in the case, are scheduled for Nov 29.