Update | Justice secretary wants Apple Daily editor jailed for contempt of court
Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung has asked the High Court to jail the editors of Apple Daily and its sister publication, Sharp Daily, for contempt of court over reports they published about two alleged murderers.
In two writs filed yesterday, Yuen said Apple Daily editor Cheung Kim-hung and Sharp Daily editor Li Pang-kay should be imprisoned or fined for "publishing, or causing or permitting to be published" the articles when criminal proceedings were in progress.
The [Secretary] took the view that it is necessary to commence contempt of court proceedings … to protect the solemnity of the criminal justice system
The Department of Justice said it took legal action to ensure that the defendants would have a fair trial.
The court documents have not identified the articles published apart from saying they ran on March 20 and related to a "double homicide" case.
Both papers had an exclusive interview with Henry Chau Hoi-leung, 29, who in March was accused with his friend, Tse Chun-Kei, 35, of murdering and dismembering his parents at Tse's Tai Kok Tsui apartment.
Chau was interviewed in Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre, where he had been remanded, and spoke freely and frankly about the case. Apple Daily also published a video on its website, the writs said.