
I was surprised to discover recently that, in addition to being charged under the new National Security Law and awaiting trial for taking part in an “unauthorized” commemoration of the 1989 Tian’anmen Massacre, 黎智英 Jimmy Lai is also currently in court for allegedly intimidating a news reporter working for the Oriental Daily News. In this report by 林樂兒 Làhm4 Lohk6 Yìh4 at HK01, we learn something about the background to this case, especially with regard to the methods employed by the Oriental Daily News to gather their stories. You can find the original HK01 story here.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
壹傳媒創辦人黎智英涉嫌刑事恐嚇東方報業集團男記者案續審,事主接受辯方盤問下,承認他所隸屬的「專案組」,若無其他重要工作,每日都會監察黎智英,包括尾隨他外出用膳及前往機場,並解釋這叫做「擺位」。辯方隨後引述東方的文章,質疑東方報道黎的事宜時,將他塑造成負面的形象,事主則謂:「我哋係如實報道。」
● 刑事恐嚇 = (?) criminal intimidation | 刑事 yìhng4 sih6 = criminal + 恐嚇 húng2 haak3 = to threaten; to intimidate
● 東方報 = Dūng1 Fōng1 Bou3 = Oriental Daily News
● 事主 sih6 jyú2 = the victim of a crime
● 辯方 bihn6 fōng1 = the defence (in a legal trial)
● 隸屬 daih6 suhk6 = be subordinate to; be under the jurisdiction or command of; be affiliated; an affiliation
● 監察 gāam1 chaat3 = to monitor; to supervise; to control
● 擺位 báai2 wái6*2 = ? | baai2 = 1. to lay; to put; to place; to arrange
● 事宜 sih6 yìh4 = arrangements; to make) arrangements
The founder of Apple Media Jimmy Lai is suspected of criminal intimidation [刑事恐嚇] against a reporter [from] the Oriental Daily Newspaper Group [東方報業集團]. Under questioning from the defence, the victim of the crime admitted that he was affiliated with a “special case group” [專案組] and, if there was no other important work to do, would monitor [the movements] of Jimmy Lai every day. [This monitoring] included following him whenever he went out for a meal or made a trip to the airport. He also explained that this was referred to as baai wai or “putting [someone] in a position” [擺位]. After the questioning, the defence quoted articles from the Oriental Daily and suspected (?) that when the newspaper reported on Lai’s arrangements [事宜], they depicted him in a negative light. In response, the victim said “We report things as they are” [我哋係如實報道].
被告黎智英(72歲)否認於2017年6月4日在維園內近音樂亭,威脅X會使其人身遭受損害,意圖使他受驚。
● 音樂亭 yām1 ngohk6 tāhng4= (?) music pavilion
● 意圖 yi3 tòuh4 = an intention; (an) intent
● 受驚 sauh6 gīng1= be frightened by sth.; be startled
The accused Jimmy Lai (72 years of age) denied that his threatening of X on 4 June 2017, near the music pavilion [音樂亭] in Victoria Park, could cause physical harm to another person or that he intended to startle him [i.e. X (?)].
認定期在黎家門口守候 / He acknowledged that he regularly kept watch at the entrance to Lai’s residence
黎由資深大律師 Peter Duncan 及大律師許卓倫代表。X在辯方盤問下,透露現時在《東方日報》任職採訪主任,他於2013年前加入「專案組」,兩年後成為小組主管。小組會定期在黎的家門守候,尾隨對方活動,例如黎外出用膳時會在餐廳外等候,亦試過跟著黎前往機場。至於有無跟過黎的子女上學,X稱如誤以為黎在車上便會跟隨,但他本人未試過。
● 守候 sáu2 hauh6 = 1. to wait for; to expect 2. to keep watch
● 任職 yahm6 jīk1 = to hold a post; be in office
● 主任 jyú2 yahm6 = director; head; chairman
● 主管 jyú2 gwún2 = 1. be responsible for; be in charge of 2. a person in charge
Lai was represented by Peter Duncan QC and the senior lawyer Lawrence Hui Cheuk-lun. When questioned by the defence, X revealed that he currently held the position of head of [gathering] news at the Oriental Daily. He joined the “special case group” before 2013, and two years later took charge of it. At regular intervals, the group kept watch at the entrance to Lai’s residence, and tailed his movements. for instance, when Lai when out for a meal someone would wait outside the restaurant. He had also been followed out to the airport. As to whether Lai’s children had been followed on their way to school, X claimed that this had happened only when they mistakenly believed Lai to be in the car with them, but he himself had never done such a thing.
黎在港便會「擺位」/ If Lai was in Hong Kong, he would be “put in a position”
被問及其小組是否恆常尾隨黎,X 答:「如果唔喺香港,我哋唔會。」又指小組亦有其他工作。辯方追問,若無其他重要工作,專案組會否每日監察黎智英?X 承認道:「我哋叫擺位,係囉。」
● 恆常 hàhng4 sèuhng4 = regularly; (?) constantly
When asked whether the group constantly tailed Lai, X replied: “No, not when he wasn’t in Hong Kong.” He also said that the group had other work to do. When the defence asked him whether the special case group would monitor Lai every single day if it had no other work to do, X admitted that they would, saying: “We called it baai wai or “putting [someone] in a position” [擺位].

眾多行家擠迫才會近距離拍黎 / Lai would only be photographed if there were crowds of other journalists [行家]
辯方引述數篇文章,指東方於2014年8月報道黎智英被追訪時,其座駕疑輾傷一名記者,附圖顯示多人包圍黎的座駕。辯方問 X,該些追訪的記者有無遵守新聞操守?X 指自己不在場,並就圖片回答:「如果阻到行唔到,咁一定有違反操守,但我唔知下一秒係咩狀況。」他又稱,除了在眾多行家擠迫採訪的情況之外,沒有近距離拍攝黎智英。
● 座駕 joh6 gaa3 = one’s private vehicle or car
● 行家 hòhng4 gāa1 = cognoscente, conoisseur, of expert opinion
● 操守 chou3 sáu2 = personal integrity
The defence quoted from several articles and said that in August 2014 it was reported that Lai was suspected of knocking over a reporter while driving when being pursued for an interview [追訪], and causing injury. An image that formed part of the story showed a large number of people [多人] surrounding Lai’s vehicle. The defence asked X whether these reporters giving chase were acting in a manner consistent with journalistic integrity [有無遵守新聞操守]. X said that he wasn’t present at the scene and with regard to the image responded: “If the car was blocked so that it could not continue on its way, that would certainly violate the code of conduct [違反操守], but I don’t know what happened in the next second [after this image was taken].” He went on to claim that Lai would not be photographed at close range unless there were crowds of other journalists around him.
強調如實報道 / [He] emphasized reporting things as they were
辯方再讀出另一文章,質疑東方報道時把黎塑造成負面的形象,X則謂:「我哋係如實報道。有負面咪報負面囉,有正面就報正面。」他同意《東方日報》與《蘋果日報》是很大的競爭對手,要翻查紀錄才能確認東方有無對黎或者蘋果日報作出正面報道。
● 有負面咪報負面囉 is a good example of the pairing of 咪 with the final particle 囉. As Yip and Matthews note, the combination “suggests that what follows is an obvious conclusion” and is used in sentences such as 你做得唔開心咪揾第二份工囉 = If you’re not happy in your work, then find another job (Intermediate Cantonese, Unit 23).
● 競爭對手 gihng6 jāng1 deui3 sáu2 = competitor
● 翻查紀錄 fāan1 chàah4 gei1 luhk6 = “rummage around through the records”
The defence then read from another article and posed the question whether the Oriental Daily presented Lai in a negative light. X said: “We report things as they are. If things are negative, we report them negatively, if positive then positive.” He agreed that the Oriental Daily and Apple Daily were serious competitors, [but] would have to look back through the records to determine whether there had [ever] been any positive reports on Lai or Apple Daily in the Oriental Daily.
指訃告非新聞 / He said that an obituary [for Lai] was not news
辯方續指,東方於2014年8月刊登訃告,指「黎志英」患愛滋病及多種癌症併發不治身亡,訃告最後一句為「請2傳霉員工節哀順變」。X 稱該文並非新聞,他不清楚這與黎智英有無關係。
審訊明續。
● 訃告 fuh6 gou3 = obituary
● 傳霉 chyùhn4 mùih4 = (?) to infect with a sexually transmissible disease
● 節哀順變 jit3 ōi1 seuhn6 bin3 = to restrain grief and accept the change; an expression of condolence for a bereaved person
The defence went on to say that in August 2014 the Oriental Daily published an obituary which said that “Lai Chi-ying” [黎志英 sounds exactly like Jimmy Lai’s Chinese name, 黎智英] had passed away, having contracted AIDS together with various kinds of cancer. The final line of the obituary read: “We offer our condolences to the two staff members who passed on the infection [傳霉]”. X claimed that this was not news and was not sure whether it had anything to do with Jimmy Lai.
The hearing will continue tomorrow.