Jimmy Lai, who founded the pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, faces a possible life sentence after being charged under the controversial national security law imposed after Hong Kong’s 2019 protests.
The trial of Hong Kong’s most famous activist publisher who was arrested under China’s crackdown on dissidents will start Monday after being delayed for over a year.
Jimmy Lai, 76, broke into the city’s once freewheeling media world about three decades ago, armed with the belief that delivering information is equal to protecting freedom. Now, his own freedom is at stake as he faces a possible life sentence if convicted under a national security law imposed by Beijing following the 2019 pro-democracy protests.
The landmark case — tied to the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily that Lai founded — is seen by many as a trial for press freedom and a test for judicial independence in the former British colony, which was promised to have its Western-style civil liberties remain intact for 50 years after returning to Chinese rule in 1997.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The trial of Hong Kong’s most famous activist publisher who was arrested under China’s crackdown on dissidents will start Monday after being delayed for over a year.
Jimmy Lai, 76, broke into the city’s once freewheeling media world about three decades ago, armed with the belief that delivering information is equal to protecting freedom.
The landmark case — tied to the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily that Lai founded — is seen by many as a trial for press freedom and a test for judicial independence in the former British colony, which was promised to have its Western-style civil liberties remain intact for 50 years after returning to Chinese rule in 1997.
Lai is now serving a term of five years and nine months over fraud charges linked to lease violations in a separate case as he awaits his security trial.
Robert Pang, one of Lai’s lawyers, pointed to the lack of transparency in the appointment of the judges, saying that might affect the public’s confidence in the judiciary and the judicial process.
Lai’s trial, originally scheduled to start last December, was also postponed while the Hong Kong government appealed to Beijing to effectively block his attempt to hire a British defense lawyer.
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