On March 2, the Hong Kong High Court held the first trial on Gu Chen's lawsuit against "Entertainment New Weekly" and Ni Zhen for defamation infringement, and the trial was divided into two parts, namely to consider whether "Entertainment New Weekly" was infringing and to consider whether Ni Zhen was infringing.

After the first part of the trial began, the lawyer representing "Entertainment New Weekly" first stood up to defend his innocence: "Hello Judge and jury members, I personally regret that Mr. Gu Chen sued "Entertainment New Weekly" for infringement of reputation, and I personally and Mr. Dong Jiapeng, the owner of "Entertainment New Weekly", may have really caused damage to the reputation of Mr. Gu and other related people, but I do not think that it is "Entertainment New Weekly" that infringed on the reputation of Mr. Gu and other related people. ”

"Entertainment New Weekly only truthfully published the words of the interviewee, that is, Mr. Ni Zhen, and I have a recording of the interview here, and the editor did not add any subjective fabricated sentences in the published report, so it can be said that we are just a paraphraser, and subjectively do not infringe on the reputation of Mr. Gu and other related people. In addition, Mr. Gu and Ms. Zhao Yazhi, the main figure in this case, are public figures, and the newspaper is the main tool for supervision. ”

"But I would like to point out that in order to ensure the timeliness of information and the news effect, sometimes the news and reports published by newspapers and other media are not necessarily correct, and sometimes it is normal for some speculative reports to appear. We collected several newspapers published by other newspapers in Hong Kong between Feb. 3 and Feb. 11, and some of the stories on them were not much different in nature from the Feb. 10 stories published by Entertainment New Weekly. I am not trying to say that these newspapers also infringe on the reputation of Mr. Gu and others involved, but to emphasize the media's responsibility to monitor public figures. There may be some flaws or misfortunes in the process of supervision of some media, but this does not mean that they are wrong, or even guilty......"

As soon as the lawyer representing Entertainment New Weekly opened his mouth, he put all the blame on Ni Zhen, put himself in the position of a relayer, and then defended the excesses of Entertainment New Weekly on the grounds of the media's right to supervise public figures.

The judge took a pen and wrote something, then looked up at the plaintiff's bench and said, "Plaintiff's lawyer, you can speak." ”

Zhong Liming, the chief lawyer of Tang Dynasty Holdings' legal group, stood up. In a mocking tone, he said: "First of all, I want to say that the defense of the defendant's lawyer is not only ridiculous, it is simply shameless, if according to his statement. All the media can unscrupulously attack any so-called public figure in his mouth under the guise of supervision, so who will protect the rights of citizens? What is the authority of the law? ”

"It's true that Mr. Gu and Ms. Zhao are public figures, but I need to emphasize it to the judge, the jury and everyone in the courtroom. Before they were public figures. They are first and foremost legal citizens with full legal rights, and they enjoy all the rights granted by Hong Kong law, including the right to privacy, the right to reputation, etc., and everything should be placed on the back burner in the face of the majesty of the law. ”

"The publication of a report by the defendant's Entertainment New Weekly on the grounds that Mr. Gu and Ms. Zhao are public figures and that seriously damages the reputations of Mr. Gu, Ms. Zhao and other related persons is already a de facto crime at the legal level, and I would like to ask the judge and the members of the jury. Is the majesty of the law important, or should the law give way to the words 'public figure'? ”

"Again. The responsibility of the media is to convey information to the public, build a bridge of communication between public opinion and events and guide public opinion, so any professional and conscientious media should put the word 'rigorous' in the first place, if in order to ensure the so-called timeliness of information and news effect ignore the authenticity and reliability of the news, then I think it is better not to report, because it may be because of your wrong report, resulting in some unpredictable things, such as some people are hurt because of this. ”

"For the sake of the interests of the newspaper, Entertainment New Weekly published a report that was seriously inconsistent with the facts and had insulting words, which not only violated the legitimate rights of Mr. Gu, Ms. Zhao and other relevant people, but also was an extremely immoral act, and even lowered the moral bottom line of the entire Hong Kong media.

"In the end, the defendant's lawyer put all the responsibility on Ni Zhen, I don't agree, Ni Zhen, as a person responsible for the full behavior, he should pay the due price for his remarks, but "Entertainment New Weekly" is also a unit with full responsibility for behavior, it has the ability to distinguish right from wrong, and "Entertainment New Weekly" still did this when it knew that its own report would mislead the public, which is obviously a subjective and intentional behavior. The aim is to use this kind of shocking report to drive newspaper sales, and I have a statistic here, which shows that on February 10, the sales of Entertainment New Weekly increased by 220% compared to previous periods. Therefore, when "Entertainment New Weekly" published Ni Zhen's words in the newspaper, the two parties were jointly and severally liable. ”

After Zhong Liming finished speaking, he sat down, and the defendant's lawyer immediately got up and said: "First of all, I protest against the personal attack on me by the plaintiff's lawyer. ”

The judge said: "The protest is valid, plaintiff's lawyer, please be careful with your words in the next hearing, otherwise it will be considered a contempt of court." ”

The defendant's lawyer continued: "I can't agree with the plaintiff's lawyer's statement that Entertainment New Weekly is not professional enough, or even immoral, as we all know, Hong Kong's media have always had a relatively independent branch of 'entertainment media', which mainly reports some entertainment news that the public is concerned about and likes, and for some well-known reasons, their reports are generally not rigorous and ......"

"Against." Zhong Liming interrupted the defendant's lawyer, got up and said: "The defendant's lawyer deliberately confuses the concept, even if the entertainment news cannot be as rigorous and objective as the current affairs news for some reason, it should abide by the laws and regulations and the most basic professional ethics, which is the premise of all the actions of any citizen and any unit or organization. ”

"Against." Not to be outdone, the defendant's lawyer shouted, but the judge's words made his face change instantly: "The objection is invalid, the plaintiff's lawyer is right, all the actions of any citizen, any unit or institution should be based on the premise of abiding by the law." ”

The defendant's lawyer can only continue with his own plea...... The lawyers on both sides are fighting in court,-for-tat, and refusing to give in to each other, but on the whole, the plaintiff has a clear advantage, after all, this reputation infringement case is obvious, and the only chance is to put all the responsibility on Ni Zhen, but will the jury really recognize that "Entertainment New Weekly" is just a relayer? I am afraid that this kind of defense, which is no different from opening one's eyes and telling nonsense, will hardly be accepted by the jury. So Entertainment New Weekly's defense of innocence is almost impossible to achieve.

In contrast, Ni Zhen was much more realistic, and after the second part of the trial began, Ni Zhen's lawyer stood up with a flat face, bowed slightly to the judge and the jury, and said, "First of all, on behalf of Mr. Ni Zhen, I solemnly apologize to Mr. Gu, Miss Zhao and other relevant people. ”

As soon as these words came out, the jury and the audience immediately began to discuss, because as the defendant's lawyer said such a thing, it proved that Ni Zhen intended to plead guilty, and his lawyer would also do a guilty defense, at this time, the judge picked up the gavel and knocked it lightly twice: "Calm and quiet, the defendant lawyer, you continue." ”

"Mr. Ni Zhen is deeply disturbed by the harm caused to Mr. Gu, Ms. Zhao and other related people because of some of his inappropriate remarks, but the harm is not Mr. Ni Zhen's intention, as a current affairs commentator who has set up columns in many mainstream newspapers, Mr. Ni Zhen's comments on current affairs have always been known for his sharp words, which is an academic style, not subjective intention."

"In an interview with Entertainment New Weekly, Mr. Ni Zhen's answer continued his usual sharp academic style, perhaps using some inappropriate words in his words, but it was just that he wanted to express his views on the incident more accurately, and Mr. Ni Zhen had no intention of infringing on the reputation of Mr. Gu, Miss Zhao and other related people in terms of subjective will."

"Of course, since the injury has been caused, then Mr. Ni Zhen will not evade responsibility, Mr. Ni Zhen is willing to issue a formal apology statement in the major mainstream media in Hong Kong, as for the $100 million compensation demanded by Mr. Gu, I hope the judge and the jury members will not enforce it."

Next, it was the plaintiff's lawyer's turn to speak: "The word 'academic' is generally used to describe some research reports or papers of scholars, and I think Ni Zhen's knowledge and popularity are far from this word, and his character is not worthy of this word......

"Objection, the plaintiff's lawyer deliberately belittles the defendant's character...... "The defendant's lawyer stood up like a tiger with its tail stepped on.

In March last year, a Hong Kong newspaper first broke out a sex-love photo of Ni Zhen going to a nightclub to buy a drunk and having a one-night stand with a strange woman; In addition, on February 12 this year, some media broke the news that Ni Zhen was infected with syphilis due to his debauchery in his private life. What is the right for a person with such a debauched and dirty private life to label his commentary on current affairs with the word 'academic'? (To be continued......)