Hong Kong prosecutors lose appeal against verdict of media tycoon Jimmy Lai intimidation case

Hong Kong prosecutors have lost an appeal against a magistrate’s decision in September 2020 clearing media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying of intimidating a reporter in 2017. Lai was accused of verbally threatening the reporter during a 2017 Victoria Park vigil commemorating the Tiananmen Square crackdown. On appeal, the High Court judge upheld the magistrate’s initial ruling that the words Lai used were not threatening because it could hold a variety of meanings.