A court hearing for jailed Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai (黎智英) yesterday was postponed due to bad weather, further lengthening a national security trial that began in 2023.
The territory’s weather observatory hoisted the highest-level rainstorm warning for about three hours yesterday morning, leading the judiciary to cancel hearings for the day.
The 77-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper is charged with foreign collusion under Hong Kong’s National Security Law, which Beijing imposed following huge and democracy protests in 2019.
Photo: AP
Lawyers yesterday were expected to present closing arguments as Lai’s trial enters its final stages. The judiciary said that those due to attend postponed hearings should return today.
The media tycoon has been kept behind bars since December 2020, reportedly in solitary confinement, with Western nations and rights groups calling for his release.
Aside from the collusion offense — which could land him in prison for life — Lai is also charged with “seditious publication” related to 161 op-eds he allegedly wrote.
Photo: AFP
The tycoon gave spirited courtroom testimony over more than 50 days during the trial, fielding questions about his political ideology, management style and overseas contacts.
Lai described himself at least twice as a “political prisoner,” which drew sharp rebukes from the three-judge panel.
Hong Kong authorities have repeatedly rejected criticism related to Lai, saying last month that his case was “handled strictly on the basis of evidence and in accordance with the law.”
Reporters Without Borders director of advocacy, strategic litigation and assistance Antoine Bernard on Tuesday said that Lai’s treatment “exposes the authorities’ ruthless determination to silence and suppress one of the most prominent advocates for press freedom amid Hong Kong’s rapidly deteriorating media landscape.”
Judges had previously indicated that a verdict could be reached by October.
Prosecutors had showed the court a diagram titled Lai’s “external political connections,” stating that he had exerted influence in Taiwan, the UK and the US.
It featured headshots of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), as well as US President Donald Trump, former US vice president Mike Pence and former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo.
Lai has denied calling for sanctions against China and Hong Kong and said he never advocated separatism.
The mogul said his newspaper championed democracy and freedom, adding that he had always disavowed violence.
“The core values of Apple Daily are actually the core values of the people of Hong Kong ... [including] rule of law, freedom, pursuit of democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly,” Lai said on the first day of his testimony.
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