Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai appears in court for landmark trial

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Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong media tycoon and former proprietor of the now-defunct Apple Each day newspaper, appeared in courtroom in a long-delayed nationwide safety trial that would put him in jail for all times.

The 76-year-old mogul, who has already spent virtually three years in jail, was among the many Chinese language territory’s most well-known democracy champions and a distinguished critic of the Chinese language Communist get together. He faces costs of colluding with international forces and conspiracy to publish seditious materials.

A heavy police presence was deployed across the courthouse forward of the trial’s opening on Monday, with some members of the general public queueing to enter the courtroom the night time earlier than. A person in his 40s surnamed Sung stated he wished to attend the listening to to display “resistance”.

The trial, which may last as long as 80 days and can be held with no jury, was delayed for months after Hong Kong’s authorities barred Lai’s defence lawyer, UK barrister Tim Owen, in late 2022 on the premise that international authorized illustration may pose a nationwide safety risk.

The US, UK and European parliament have referred to as for Lai’s launch, with UK international secretary David Cameron saying he was “gravely involved” about Lai’s “politically motivated prosecution”. Cameron met Lai’s son Sebastien final week to debate the case.

Lai, who has pleaded not responsible, appeared visibly thinner in courtroom on Monday. He wore a gray blazer, and waved to the general public gallery from the dock.

Observers have warned that the case represents a take a look at for town’s quickly deteriorating freedoms, as soon as a cherished a part of Hong Kong’s id following the previous British colony’s 1997 handover to China.

Beijing has cracked down within the wake of citywide pro-democracy protests in 2019, imposing the sweeping nationwide safety legislation beneath which opposition activists and politicians have been jailed, and driving extra to flee the territory. Mass demonstrations have been snuffed out, whereas civil society teams and media retailers, together with Lai’s Apple Each day, had been pressured to close.

A verdict can be anticipated quickly within the trial of 47 of the nation’s most distinguished opposition figures, the biggest trial beneath the nationwide safety legislation.

This month, Agnes Chow, one among Hong Kong’s most well-known pro-democracy campaigners, introduced that she had left town.

Chow, who had been on bail beneath the nationwide safety legislation, stated her passport had been returned by police in alternate for her penning a “repentance letter” disavowing her previous actions and after agreeing to a patriotic tour in mainland China with nationwide safety officers. Chow wrote on social media that she had relocated to Canada to review and wouldn’t report back to police beneath her bail circumstances.

Authorities final week additionally issued HK$1mn (US$128,000) rewards for data resulting in the arrests of 5 self-exiled activists in an effort to stifle dissent abroad, following earlier bounties on eight figures.

Prosecutors have accused Lai of conspiring to publish seditious materials in his Apple Each day newspaper in addition to colluding with international parts to “impose sanctions . . . or interact in different hostile actions” in opposition to Hong Kong and Beijing.

“Lai might be sentenced to a decade or extra in jail, and that may be sufficient to make sure that he spends the remainder of his days in jail,” stated Thomas E Kellogg, govt director at Georgetown College’s Middle for Asian Regulation.

Lai has been in jail since December 2020 and was sentenced final yr to 5 years and 9 months in jail on fraud costs associated to the lease of Apple Each day’s headquarters.