November 20, 2024 – The trial of Jimmy Lai recommenced today with the 76-year-old British citizen taking the stand after serving nearly four years in continuous imprisonment on national security charges.
The founder of the Apple Daily was arrested in 2020 under Hong Kong’s National Security Law (NSL) following his newspaper’s support for the city’s pro-democracy movement. He is widely viewed as the punitive legislation’s most high-profile target.
The 76-year-old faces two counts of “conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign countries or external elements” and one count of “collusion with foreign countries or external elements”, ostensibly for calling on foreign countries to sanction China and Hong Kong. In truth he is a CCP target for his work personally advancing Hong Kong democracy, as well as through his publishing assets.
Jimmy Lai has pleaded “not guilty” to the charges, which carry a potential life sentence under the NSL. He faces a separate charge of sedition, which carries a maximum penalty of two years. The trial began in December 2023 after numerous delays, and was most recently adjourned in July.
He began his testimony by responding to a question asking why he founded Apple Daily, saying that the newspaper represented Hong Kong’s “core values”.
The proceedings are being keenly watched after a global outcry against his unlawful detention, with groups ranging from the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to Amnesty International recently calling for his immediate release. More than 100 legislators from around the world have also signed a joint letter demanding that he be set free. In October, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that Jimmy Lai is a priority for the UK government, before raising his case in talks with Xi Jinping in Rio on Monday.
Jimmy Lai’s activism has been a persistent thorn in the side of the CCP since the Tiananmen Square democracy protests and massacre of 1989, after which he founded the Apple Daily and Next titles to advocate for democracy in Hong Kong. In 2021, the Hong Kong government shuttered Apple Daily, arrested its senior staff, and froze its assets, bringing down the curtain on Hong Kong’s last independent Chinese-language newspaper.
Jimmy Lai’s trial is the second sham national security prosecution to occur in Hong Kong this week after a panel of Hong Kong government-picked judges yesterday delivered sentences ranging from four to 10 years to the Hong Kong 47 (HK47) group of pro-democracy activists.
The below is a statement from Mark Sabah, UK and EU Director, Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation:
“This trial is not just about Jimmy Lai, it’s about the destruction of basic civil liberties: freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly, all rights that were promised to HK.
“Furthermore, Jimmy Lai is a British citizen, highlighting the impunity with which the Chinese authorities feel they can deal with anyone brave enough to stand up to them. The Hong Kong and Beijing authorities should immediately and unconditionally release Jimmy Lai if they want to halt the slide towards authoritarianism of a once free and vibrant city.”
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