Jimmy Lai's release on bail undermines authority of national security law in HKSAR: legal sector

Lai at great risk of jumping bail

Hong Kong legal professionals pointed out that Lai had a major risk of absconding from bail and it was unreasonable that he was released on bail.

Grenville Cross, former director of public prosecutions of Hong Kong, said that Lai was facing a number of charges. If convicted, he will face long-term imprisonment, so he has a strong motive to jump bail.

He said that Lai was wealthy and had close links with countries and regions such as the United States, Canada, Britain and China's Taiwan that do not have fugitive extradition agreements with Hong Kong, and many anti-China forces will help him abscond.

Retired magistrate Symon Wong Yu-wing said that the judge ordered Lai to pay 10 million HK dollars and a surety of 300,000 HK dollars in bail, which was just a drop in the bucket for Lai. And of the three sureties, at least one of them was also involved in lawsuits and they were not trustworthy. These bail conditions were meaningless.

Vice Secretary-General of the Hong Kong Coalition Kennedy Wong Ying-ho, who is also a lawyer, said Lai has been doing business for a long time and has close ties with foreign countries, with a strong ability and abundant resources to abscond. Meanwhile, the conditions for bail did not specify that the police would exercise necessary control over him.

Therefore, although Lai has to meet a series of bail conditions, the possibility of him absconding from bail should not be eliminated, Wong said.