- Jimmy Lai on trial
- Global outcry, media stifled
- Critics question judiciary independence
Jimmy Lai, an entrepreneur in the pro-democracy media sector, is on trial in Hong Kong for suspicion of conspiring with foreign forces and violating national security.
At the age of 76, Mr. Lai refutes all allegations. He has been incarcerated since December 2020 and, if proven guilty, faces life in prison.
The self-made millionaire was arrested for breaking a security statute China allegedly used to silence criticism.
His case has caused global outrage and is seen as a test of Hong Kong’s judiciary’s independence.
Mr. Lai, who has been in isolation for three years, appeared before three judges and correctional authorities. He looked thinner than in previous hearings. At relatives, he waved and beamed. Over 250 activists, legislators, and demonstrators have been arrested for sedition and NSL violations.
The year-long postponed landmark trial is anticipated to last approximately eighty days.
Beijing, which implemented the NSL in 2020 in response to significant pro-democracy demonstrations, maintains that the legislation is essential for quelling unrest. The Chinese government considers Mr. Lai a traitor due to his alleged efforts to compromise the nation’s security. Critics say Mr. Lai’s case shows Beijing’s growing grip over British-ruled territory.
Support and International Concerns for Jimmy Lai
Teresa, the spouse of Mr. Lai, was in attendance at the courtroom, accompanied by her family. Joseph Zen, a 92-year-old cardinal who was acquitted under the NSL, is presently released on parole.
Before being led away, 67-year-old Alexandra Wong, a prominent pro-democracy activist better known as Grandma Wong, mounted a solitary protest outside the heavily guarded courthouse while surrounded by police and chanting slogans.
Ms. Wong stated, “I support Jimmy Lai because I seek the truth.” “The public will not have faith in us. I hope that he can emerge early. I desire to re-engage with Apple Daily.
Beijing had prohibited him from hiring an attorney from the United Kingdom. A London lawyer for Mr. Lai said he is being tried by three judges nominated by the Hong Kong leader.
The US and UK want Mr. Lai, a dual citizen of China and the UK, released.
David Cameron, the foreign secretary of the United Kingdom, stated, “I am extremely concerned that anyone is being prosecuted under the National Security Law, and I am especially troubled by the politically motivated prosecution of British national Jimmy Lai.”
In addition to the charges levied against him by the NSL, Mr Lai is additionally accused of sedition under a law from the colonial era, which was applied to his tweets, interviews, and articles published in the defunct Apple Daily newspaper that he owned.
Stowaway for an ardent critic of Beijing
Mr. Lai, a prominent figure who openly criticized the Chinese Communist Party, is among the most notorious individuals to have been apprehended under the NSL.
Regularly leading pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong, he participated in the Umbrella Movement of 2014. Additionally, he joined the massive protests against an extradition measure backed by Beijing in 2019. He established and oversaw Apple Daily, among other well-known media outlets in Hong Kong.
Mr. Lai was born into a wealthy Guangzhou family in 1947 that lost everything after the communist takeover. At the tender age of 12, he departed China and used a boat as a stowaway to reach Hong Kong.
Initially, he was employed in a garment sweatshop. Ultimately, after self-teaching English, he established the global apparel brand Giordano.
Following the suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing by troops in 1989, Mr Lai’s professional trajectory shifted towards political activism and the media. 13 months became his initial incarceration term in Hong Kong in 2021 for his involvement in an illegal vigil commemorating the Tiananmen Square atrocity.
Mr. Lai is presently confronted with several grave allegations pertaining to Apple Daily, the organization he established in 1995. The Chinese-language tabloid criticised Beijing and called for international sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials.
After police froze $2.3 million (£1.8 million) of its assets, raided its offices, and arrested several senior editors, the newspaper ceased publication in June 2021. Hongkongers lamented the demise of the last independent magazine in the city.
In addition to Mr. Lai, six former Apple Daily executives were apprehended. They have since entered a guilty plea to the charge of “colluding with foreign forces” to compromise national security.
International Reactions and Condemnations
Mr. Lai’s trial was deemed a “travesty” by Human Rights Watch. Maya Wang, the China director of the organization, urged “concerned governments” to exert pressure on authorities to dismiss the charges against Mr. Lai. This development has “significantly harmed press freedom in Hong Kong,” according to her.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stated that the actions of Beijing and Hong Kong have “harmed Hong Kong’s reputation as an international business and financial hub” and “undermined Hong Kong’s democratic institutions.
Regarding Mr. Lai, China has condemned what it perceives to be international intervention.
The Chinese embassy in the UK stated that the United Kingdom’s support for a lawbreaker who is an anti-China destabilizer in Hong Kong constitutes egregious interference in a case that has already entered judicial proceedings.
Two weeks after the conclusion of another protracted national security prosecution involving pro-democracy figures known as the Hong Kong 47, Mr. Lai’s trial commences. In March, a verdict is anticipated.
Since Beijing began cracking down on demonstrators in 2020, several activists have also fled to Hong Kong; last week, Hong Kong police issued a fresh batch of information bounties that led to the apprehension of five pro-democracy activists living in exile.
