Pro-Beijing lawmaker Junius Ho’s libel suit against three former pro-democracy legislators, who allegedly accused him of triad ties, has been put on hold indefinitely by a Hong Kong court.
High Court Judge Keith Yeung approved jailed ex-lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting’s application for an indefinite stay of proceedings on Tuesday morning, saying it “doesn’t make sense” to limit the application to a single defendant while proceedings go ahead for fellow democrats Claudia Mo and Dennis Kwok.
Ho sued the three former legislators for libel more than five years ago in November 2019, after they accused him of having links to triads during a protest in August that year.
The “triad” allegation referred to Ho shaking hands with men dressed in white on July 21, 2019, outside Yuen Long MTR station, the same day that more than 100 rod-wielding, white-clad men stormed the station and attacked passengers and pro-democracy protesters going home after attending a demonstration earlier that day.
Ho argued that those remarks were made with “malice and ulterior motive,” the court heard on Tuesday, alleging that the defendants “knew or ought to have known there is no evidence” tying him to triads and that he was not an organiser of the Yuen Long mob attack.
Ho sought to rely on Lam’s conviction and sentence to support his claim of “malice” and to demonstrate that the offending phrase – “Junius Ho, triad” – was uttered in bad faith, Judge Yeung reiterated on Monday.
Lam, dressed in a navy suit and white shirt, appeared before Yeung at the High Court on Tuesday morning for a case management hearing.
Lam, who is currently serving a 37-month jail sentence after being found guilty of rioting during the Yuen Long mob attack, is seeking to appeal his rioting conviction and sentence.
Mo, who was released from prison in April after serving her sentence in the city’s largest national security trial, and Kwok, now overseas and labelled a wanted “absconder” by the Hong Kong government under national security legislation, were both absent from the hearing.
Indefinite hold
Yeung decided on Tuesday that the application for a stay of proceedings, filed by Lam, would also extend to the other two defendants, Mo and Kwok. The proceedings will be put on hold indefinitely, pending the result of Lam’s appeal.
Whether the libel case is reopened may depend on the result of Lam’s appeal against his conviction and 37-month jail sentence for rioting during the Yuen Long attack.
The Yuen Long attack, which left 45 people injured, including then-legislator Lam, marked a watershed moment during the months-long anti-extradition bill unrest. Police were criticised for responding slowly to the incident, with some officers seen leaving the scene or interacting with the white-clad men.
Lam is also currently serving a separate jail term of six years and nine months for conspiring to commit subversion after he was convicted in the largest national security trial. He has also lodged an appeal against his national security conviction and sentence.
