The Wall Street Journal has denied allegations of unlawful termination against Hong Kong journalist Selina Cheng, who claims she was fired for taking on a leadership role in the Hong Kong Journalists Association. The case has drawn significant attention due to its implications for press freedom and labor rights.
During a court appearance on Friday, Senior Counsel Benson Tsoi, representing the newspaper’s parent company, Dow Jones Publishing Co. (Asia) Inc., entered a not guilty plea on behalf of the organization. The magistrate, Ko Wai-hung, set the trial to begin on December 18, maintaining the previously scheduled date.
Cheng was dismissed from the Journal in July, and shortly after, she stated that her position with the press union was deemed “incompatible” with her job at the paper. She also mentioned that she had not received permission to take on the role. This led her to launch a private prosecution in December.
Requests and Delays
On Friday, Cheng’s lawyer, Senior Counsel Nigel Kat, revealed that the defense had sent a notice requesting an adjournment of the trial, although keeping the December 18 date for a pre-trial hearing. The Journal’s legal team had previously asked Cheng’s side to clarify several issues, including the admissibility of a covert audio recording made by Cheng and the whereabouts of individuals involved in her dismissal.
Tsoi explained that some participants were not in Hong Kong at the time, which could affect the court’s jurisdiction. However, Cheng’s team rejected these requests, prompting Tsoi to emphasize the need for a pre-trial hearing before proceeding. He warned that moving forward without resolving these issues would be “disastrous and irregular.”
The lawyers for the US paper also requested Cheng’s lawyers to provide criminal conviction records of Dow Jones, to which Kat responded: “That’s not available to us, that’s available to them.” He criticized the Journal’s request for information about the company’s employees as “disingenuous.”
Kat noted that the defense’s list of requests would likely delay the trial. He insisted that none of these matters justified changing the trial dates, adding that the defense could raise their concerns during the trial or apply for a stay of proceedings.
Magistrate Ko rejected the adjournment request and stated that the issue of the admissibility of Cheng’s audio recording could be addressed during the trial without a pre-trial hearing.
‘Not Guilty’
The defense then entered a not guilty plea for one count of preventing or deterring an employee from holding office in a trade union and another count of terminating employment, penalizing, or discriminating against an employee for exercising that right.
Cheng filed a complaint with the Labour Department in November, leading to a consultation with the Department of Justice (DoJ) regarding potential prosecution. However, the DoJ confirmed last month that it would not intervene in the case, as Cheng had opted for a private prosecution.