Beijing, Nov. 20, (dpa/GNA) – Publisher and democracy activist Jimmy Lai on Wednesday gave his first testimony in the high-profile trial against him for alleged violations of Hong Kong’s controversial security law.
Lai is the founder of the pro-democracy Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily, which was forced to shut down after it was targeted by authorities for alleged violations of China’s National Security Law.
Apple Daily upheld the fundamental values of “rule of law, freedom, the pursuit of democracy, freedom of speech, religion and assembly,” media outlets including the South China Morning Post (SCMP) cited Lai as saying, in his first extended comments in nearly four years.
The activist added he “always opposes violence in any form,” the SCMP reported, and that the position extends to his newspaper.
In court, Lai stated that he had believed that the advocacy for Hong Kong’s independence from China, which was discussed by a few people in 2019, was “a conspiracy.”
“People want us to get into the trap. It’s too crazy to think about it,” The SCMP quoted him as saying in court. “That’s why I never allowed any of our staff of the newspaper to mention it.”
Lai is charged with conspiracy to collaborate with foreign forces and to publish seditious publications. At the beginning of the trial, which started in December 2023, Lai pleaded not guilty.
The 76-year-old has already been sentenced to two prison terms and has been jailed for three years. If, as expected, Lai is also found guilty in the current trial, he could face a life sentence.
The security law, imposed by Beijing in June 2020 following huge protests for more democracy in Hong Kong, massively curtails the political rights of the opposition as well as of civil rights organizations. The law is aimed at activists that Beijing sees as subversive, separatist, terrorist or conspiratorial.
GNA