Hong Kong’s High Court denied another bail application on Thursday to media tycoon and Beijing critic Jimmy Lai, the most high-profile person to be charged under the Chinese-ruled city’s national security law.
The Court of Final Appeal ruled last week that a lower court’s decision last year to grant him bail applied “an erroneous line of reasoning,” but allowed Lai’s team to make a new application for bail to the High Court.
The High Court said it will publish its reasons for rejecting Thursday’s application at a later date.
Under the new law, the onus is on the defendant to prove they would not be a national security threat if released on bail. Under Hong Kong’s common law-based legal system, the onus has traditionally been on the prosecution to prove its case.
