Beijing’s media mouthpieces in Hong Kong have criticized a judge for granting bail to Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai, even though the judge imposed harsh bail conditions such as house arrest and a speech ban.

In a front-page article, Beijing-owned newspaper Ta Kung Pao said High Court judge Alex Lee “clearly made a serious error” in interpreting the national security law and damaged the law’s authority when he granted bail to the 73-year-old.

On Wednesday, Lai was released on bail of HK$10 million (US$1.29 million) under strict conditions including that he remains confined to his home, surrenders his travel documents and refrains from posting on social media. He was also barred from giving interviews, publishing articles, meeting overseas officials, and asking foreign countries to sanction China.

Quoting former chief executive Leung Chun-ying, Ta Kung Pao on Saturday said that Lai had the motive and ability to abscond. Lai’s case was comparable to that of fugitive Carlos Ghosn, who fled Japan while on bail, Leung said.

Brave Chan, a Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress in Beijing, told Ta Kung Pao that judges should consider bail applications more strictly after recent examples of criminal suspects fleeing Hong Kong.

Ta Kung Pao also ran an editorial titled “Granting bail to Jimmy Lai damages the authority of the national security law,” adding that Lai’s slogan “no fear, fight on” was a manifesto for continuing his fight against the authorities.

Another Beijing-backed newspaper Wen Wei Po also criticized the High Court judge in an editorial, saying that he lacked “national security awareness” and urged the Office for Safeguarding National Security to intervene.

Lai’s case should be transferred to the central government’s jurisdiction if the Hong Kong government could not handle it, said Song Sio-chong, a professor at the Center for Basic Laws of Hong Kong and Macau at Shenzhen University.

When asked about the criticism from Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po, the Department of Justice said it would not comment on ongoing judicial proceedings.

Yet more opposition to the court’s bail approval came from Tian Feilong, an associate law professor at Beihang University in Beijing.

“The Hong Kong government or the Office for Safeguarding National Security should carefully study the case and its impact, and should request the central government to exercise jurisdiction,” Tian told Chinese state media Xinhua.

Lai will appear at the Court of Final Appeal on Dec. 31, as Hong Kong’s prosecutors have appealed against the High Court’s decision to grant him bail.

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