The media tycoon’s legal team, meanwhile, is seeking to establish a case that his focus had always been on the business aspect and how to improve the quality of content without exerting influence over the newsroom.

‘Jimmy Lai pushed Apple Daily to play up officials facing possible US sanctions’

Defence senior counsel Robert Pang Yiu-hung submitted multiple screengrabs to the court showing text conversations between the newspaper’s staff before and after regular “lunchbox meetings”, during which the tycoon was said to have shared his views on current affairs and given specific instructions to senior management.

Pang referred to a text message by former executive editor-in-chief Lam Man-chung, who said Lai had considered ways to maintain a high standard at Apple Daily, such as distributing the shares of parent company Next Digital to “attract the best talent”.

The tycoon also reportedly said he had to “spend a lot of money every day” to buy back company shares and prevent them from falling into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.

Pang also drew the court’s attention to a series of exchanges on workplace communication app Slack, on which former publisher Cheung Kim-hung would share the minutes after each lunchbox meeting.

Hong Kong court hears Jimmy Lai did not tell newspaper to create sanctions list

The defence argued that Lai’s role was limited to asking colleagues to follow up on the matters discussed.

Pang also highlighted the lack of documented evidence indicating the tycoon had intervened in the tabloid’s editorial decisions.

But prosecution witness Chan said the contention was not entirely correct, pointing out the minutes did not fully reflect the discussions that occurred in the meetings.

Topics that Lai was disinterested in would be “glossed over” during the discussions among editorial staff, she added.

The trial continues on Friday.