- Oct 17, 2011
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Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner and media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been found guilty of colluding with foreign forces under the city's controversial national security law (NSL).
The 78-year-old UK citizen, who has been in jail since December 2020, pleaded not guilty. He faces life in prison and is expected to be sentenced early next year.
Lai used his now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper as part of a wider effort to lobby foreign governments to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and China, the court found.
Lai, one of the fiercest critics of the Chinese state, was a key figure in the pro-democracy protests that engulfed Hong Kong in 2019. Beijing responded to the months-long demonstrations, which sometimes erupted into violent clashes with police, by introducing the NSL.
The law was enacted without consulting the Hong Kong legislature and gave authorities broad powers to charge and jail people they deemed a threat to the city's law and order, or the government's stability.
Lai was accused of violating the NSL for his role in the protests and also through his tabloid Apple Daily, which became a standard bearer for the pro-democracy movement.
Lai's trial came to be widely seen as yet another test of judicial independence for Hong Kong's courts, which have been accused of toeing Beijing's line since 2019, when it tightened its control over the city.
Hong Kong authorities insist the rule of law is intact but critics point to the hundreds of protesters and activists who have been jailed under the NSL - and its nearly 100% conviction rate as of May this year.
[Lai's] journey as a democracy activist began after China brutally crushed pro-democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Lai started writing columns criticising the massacre and went on to launch a string of popular pro-democracy publications, including Apple Daily and Next.
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The 78-year-old UK citizen, who has been in jail since December 2020, pleaded not guilty. He faces life in prison and is expected to be sentenced early next year.
Lai used his now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper as part of a wider effort to lobby foreign governments to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and China, the court found.
Lai, one of the fiercest critics of the Chinese state, was a key figure in the pro-democracy protests that engulfed Hong Kong in 2019. Beijing responded to the months-long demonstrations, which sometimes erupted into violent clashes with police, by introducing the NSL.
The law was enacted without consulting the Hong Kong legislature and gave authorities broad powers to charge and jail people they deemed a threat to the city's law and order, or the government's stability.
Lai was accused of violating the NSL for his role in the protests and also through his tabloid Apple Daily, which became a standard bearer for the pro-democracy movement.
Lai's trial came to be widely seen as yet another test of judicial independence for Hong Kong's courts, which have been accused of toeing Beijing's line since 2019, when it tightened its control over the city.
Hong Kong authorities insist the rule of law is intact but critics point to the hundreds of protesters and activists who have been jailed under the NSL - and its nearly 100% conviction rate as of May this year.
[Lai's] journey as a democracy activist began after China brutally crushed pro-democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Lai started writing columns criticising the massacre and went on to launch a string of popular pro-democracy publications, including Apple Daily and Next.
See Also (2021):
Hong Kong police raid newspaper offices, arrest editors, executives under security law
Police on Thursday raided the Apple Daily newspaper, known for its support for Hong Kong's democracy movement, and arrested five executives, including three top editors, on suspicion of violating the city's national security law. Authorities also froze the tabloid's assets. The early-morning...
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