Recently, the Hong Kong government revised the implementation details of the national security law. It has been reported that the authorities are considering invoking the newly revised “Hong Kong version of the national security law” to confiscate the assets of Jimmy Lai, the founder of Apple Daily, sparking concerns among the public about the safety of private property for Hong Kong residents.
According to information cited by Hong Kong’s TVB News, the Hong Kong authorities are assessing the level of assets owned by Jimmy Lai, the founder of Apple Daily, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and considering the possibility of confiscating them under the new regulations.
On March 23, the Hong Kong government announced the implementation details of the revised Article 43 of the “Hong Kong National Security Law,” which took effect immediately. The new provisions include the clause of “seizure of the criminal proceeds of persons convicted in serious cases,” stating that individuals convicted of any offense endangering national security and sentenced to life imprisonment or 10 years or more will have their “specified assets” confiscated (namely assets covered by the freezing property notice, restraint order, and confiscation order issued on the same day).
The new revisions have retrospective effect, meaning that the new regulations will apply even if the offenses committed by the convicted person occurred before the law came into effect or before the conviction or sentencing.
In fact, the implementation details of the national security law announced in July 2020 already specified the confiscation of assets related to individuals committing national security offenses, and the new revisions further provide more specific regulations.
On February 9 this year, Jimmy Lai was charged by the Hong Kong government with violating the national security law and sentenced to 20 years in prison. At that time, the Secretary for Security, John Lee, stated that applications for confiscation orders would be submitted to the court in due course to seize the proceeds of the crime related to the offense. As early as May 2021, the Hong Kong Security Bureau had frozen Jimmy Lai’s personal assets, including approximately $45 million worth of shares in Apple Daily Limited held by him and assets in three local accounts of companies under his name in Hong Kong.