National security law: Hong Kong prosecutors file urgent appeal in bid to have media mogul Jimmy Lai sent back to jail
- Senior prosecutor said his team was ready for a court battle as soon as possible, ‘including [over] public holidays’
- Court of Instance granted the 73-year-old HK$10 million bail with a number of stringent conditions on Wednesday
Anthony Chau Tin-hang, the acting deputy director of public prosecutions, said in a letter, dated Thursday, to the Court of Final Appeal his team was ready for a court battle as soon as possible, “including [over] public holidays”.
The application to have the appeal heard was on top of an interim order to have Lai sent back to remand immediately pending the Court of Final Appeal’s decision, according to the letter.
As well as paying the cash bail of HK$10 million, Lai was banned from meeting officials from foreign governments, attending or hosting media interviews or programmes, publishing articles and posting messages or comments on social media. He was the first person charged under the national security law to be freed on bail pending his trial.
As part of his bail conditions, three of Lai’s undisclosed sureties also had to deposit HK$100,000 each. Lai had to surrender all travel documents and must report to police three times a week.
