HONG KONG—Hong Kong’s High Court on Tuesday upheld a new warrant obtained by the national security police to search the contents of media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s phones.
In one of the former British colony’s biggest national security cases, Lai and six former Apple Daily staff members were charged with so-called collusion with foreign forces under the new law imposed by Beijing in 2020.
Senior Council Philip Dykes, representing Lai, had challenged the warrant, saying that the phones contained journalistic material and that protecting it was essential for a free press. The lack of such safeguards causes a “chilling effect,” he said….