By James Pomfret and Jessie Pang
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai on Wednesday testified in court for the first time in his years-long national security legal battle on charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, and publishing seditious materials.
Lai, a British and Hong Kong citizen and a founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, is considered one of the most high profile political arrestees in Hong Kong under a sweeping China-imposed national security law.
His testimony comes just a day after Hong Kong jailed 45 pro-democracy activists for up to 10 years in a separate national security case.
Lai told the West Kowloon Magistrates Court how his own guiding principles were aligned through his newspaper and with the people of Hong Kong, namely a belief in the rule of law and freedoms including of speech, religion and assembly.
“We were always in support of movements for freedom,” Lai, wearing a grey blazer and glasses, told the packed courtroom.
Around 100 people queued in the pouring rain huddled beneath umbrellas to secure a place in the , with hundreds of police deployed around the building.
“Apple Daily was the voice of many Hong Kongers,” said William Wong, 64, a retiree. “It’s my political expression to let him (Lai) know I support him. He’s done a lot for Hong Kong.”
Lai has pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and a charge of conspiracy to publish seditious material.
Six others had earlier pleaded guilty, including senior staffers of Apple Daily and its parent company Next Digital, to conspiring with Lai to request a foreign country or organisation “to impose sanctions or blockade, or engage in other hostile activities” against the Hong Kong and Chinese governments.
Beijing imposed the national security law in July 2020 after months of sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in the Asian financial hub the year before.
Lai had been held in pre-trial detention for over 1,400 days, before his trial kicked off last December. He is already serving a five year, nine month jail term for a fraud conviction over a lease dispute for his newspaper.
Diplomats from the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Australia, Switzerland and Ireland were present at the hearing on Wednesday.
The U.S. government has condemned Lai’s prosecution and called for his immediate release.
If convicted, the 76-year-old could be jailed for life, and his plight could emerge as a friction point between the U.S. and China in the new Trump administration.
When asked last month whether he would speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping to get Lai out of China if he won the election, President-elect Donald Trump told conservative political commentator Hugh Hewitt in a podcast: “100%”.
“I’ll get him out. He’ll be easy to get out,” Trump said.
(Reporting by James Pomfret and Jessie Pang; Editing by Michael Perry)
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