Lawmaker Au Kam San was called to the Court of First Instance last Friday, to provide his testimony regarding the lawsuit between Polytec Asset Holdings Ltd (Polytec) and local Chinese newspaper Son Pou and columnist Lei Kong.
According to Au’s testimony, Lei’s column was not insulting. It was just a comment based on common sense, information and news reports. Furthermore, in the lawmaker’s opinion, Lei’s articles were only meant to urge the relevant governmental departments to solve the Pearl Horizon problem through law-abiding methods.
Despite disagreeing with Lei’s opinion, Au does not think Lei should have been careful with the use of specific phrases.
The lawmaker also pointed out that the banners outside the Polytec group’s headquarters are “way more serious” than Lei’s articles, adding that he never saw Polytec trying to hide the banners.
The reputational damage of Polytec group is believed to have been caused by how the company has handled the Pearl Horizon incident.
“Unreasonable” and “ridiculous” are the two words Au used to describe his personal feelings when he heard about Polytec filing the lawsuit.
Current affairs commentator Wong Dong’s testimony remarked that Lei’s articles came out only after the Pearl Horizon case, which means that the articles were not trying to instigate buyers to disturb the Polytec company. Wong does not think the articles were factually incorrect.
Wong also expressed that, in his opinion, Lei’s articles were not written about Lei himself but were done for the progress of the entire society. The commentator voiced that the lawsuit’s evolution will not only make a big difference in terms of social development, but also represents a case worthy of everybody’s attention.
The trial will resume on November 23. JZ
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