The extended trial of former media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, who is facing serious charges of colluding with foreign forces and sedition, in the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, has become a media circus fueled by an overwhelming public relations campaign.

However, instead of the campaign being orchestrated by some of the better-known public relations agencies, the task has been undertaken by a team of very expensive barristers in London.

The campaign has involved many television appearances by Jimmy Lai’s son, Sebastien, and lawyers and prominent supporters on major networks worldwide, and numerous newspaper interviews and public appearances before interest groups. It has also involved lobbying politicians and governments in the United Kingdom and the United States. Indeed, it has been a coordinated and extraordinary campaign to force the “immediate release” of Lai, unprecedented in any other high-profile trials. There have been no court appearances or legal arguments, except once before the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD).

The public relations exercise is headed by Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC and her team at London’s Doughty Street Chambers, who claim to be Lai’s international legal counsel.

In a press release after its submission to the UN Working Group, the Doughty Street Chambers accused the HKSAR government of not responding to the UNWGAD requests for information.

But the UNWGAD release, dated Jan 22, 2024, clearly states: “They (the UN rights experts) appreciate and have considered the extensive government responses of July 10, 2020 and May 1, 2023, and stand ready to continue their dialogue with the authorities.” Another lie, this time from the Doughty Street Chambers itself.

Grenville Cross SC said Gallagher was an experienced barrister who should know that Lai could not be suddenly released in the middle of a trial, and that it was improper to attempt to pressure judges trying criminal cases. Indeed, it has been suggested that some of her utterances could attract the interest of the Bar Council Association of England and Wales, which upholds barristerial standards.

At a US National Press Club briefing on Nov 20, Gallagher, Sebastien Lai and Washington Post Director of Press Freedom Initiatives Jason Rezaian again sought the release of Jimmy Lai, stressing that he was being held in solitary confinement. None of them admitted that Lai was in solitary confinement at his own request.

Hong Kong’s Correctional Services Department said Lai receives regular medical checkups and was kept in isolation at his own request, and that he had also indicated that he did not want to receive Holy Communion. So, much of what Sebastien Lai and Gallagher say is false. Also, any complaints from inmates or their relatives may be conveyed through visiting justices of the peace and many other channels.

But mystery surrounds the involvement of Gallagher and her Doughty Street Chambers. Typically, barristers are hired by solicitors on behalf of their clients unless the client goes directly through a Direct Access Portal of the Bar Council. The Bar Standards Board lists barristers qualified to accept direct access, but Gallagher is not on the list. Therefore, she must have been engaged by a solicitor, although no solicitor has been disclosed.

In 2020 Gallagher presented herself to the UNWGAD claiming to be the international counsel for Jimmy Lai and Sebastien Lai. In February 2024, she reasserted that she would act with a team of international lawyers as international counsel to Jimmy Lai.

However, there has never been any statement from Lai, his Hong Kong legal team, or anyone else that Gallagher and the Doughty Street Chambers have been appointed as his “international team”.

Hong Kong legal firm Robertsons, which represented Jimmy Lai, said it is not “professionally associated” with the Doughty Street Chambers. It said in a statement dated January 2023 that “Mr Lai has never instructed anyone apart from his legal team in Hong Kong to act on his behalf in relation to his criminal and related proceedings in Hong Kong.”

Jonathan Price, a barrister at the Doughty Street Chambers, could not confirm the agreement, nor the time it was signed and by whom, citing privilege and confidentiality. So, who is funding the Doughty Street Chambers team among the many anti-China groups and individuals who support Jimmy Lai? But Baroness Helena Kennedy KC, a China-basher and strong supporter of Jimmy Lai in the House of Lords, shares the Doughty Street Chambers. In 2020, she worked with the Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith and democracy activist Luke de Pulford to create the global pressure group Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.

A newcomer to the Doughty Street Chambers is former Hong Kong University law professor and a one-time chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association, Paul Harris, KC, another rabid Hong Kong hater. Harris fled Hong Kong in 2020 when questioned by the national security police.

The author is a former chief information officer of the Hong Kong government, a PR and media consultant and veteran journalist.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.