Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s national security trial has begun

Nikkei Asia write…

HONG KONG — A landmark national security trial for Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai began on Monday, more than three years after his arrest.

Lai, one of the Chinese government’s most outspoken critics and founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, is accused of colluding with foreign forces as well as conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publications. The trial before three national security judges — without a jury — at the city’s High Court is expected to last 80 days.

The prosecution set out its case last year, saying Lai had opened an X, formerly Twitter, account to interact with “external forces” by tagging politicians and government officials of foreign countries. Lai last August pleaded not guilty to three counts of national security violations and one count of sedition.

Beijing imposed a draconian national security law in mid-2020 that sparked a relentless crackdown on dissent, including hundreds of arrests of democracy activists and opposition legislators. The Chinese authorities say the law has brought stability to the city. Critics say it has eroded Hong Kongers’ rights and freedoms.

The trial of Lai, a 76-year-old British citizen, was delayed numerous times, most recently after the government barred British lawyer Timothy Owen from representing him. Lai is also serving sentences for various charges including fraud along with organizing and participating in an unlawful assembly, and has been in solitary confinement at Hong Kong’s maximum-security Stanley Prison.