The international legal team for the imprisoned media mogul Jimmy Lai, who is on trial for national security offences in Hong Kong, has filed an urgent appeal with the United Nations special rapporteur on torture regarding one of the key prosecution witnesses in Lai’s trial. Lai’s lawyers say there is “credible evidence” that Andy Li, a 33-year-old former pro-democracy activist, was tortured while in prison in mainland China before he confessed to allegedly conspiring with Lai to collude with foreign forces. That is one of the two national security law…
Tag: Jimmy Lai
Jimmy Lai pleads not guilty to all charges at Hong Kong national security trial
Jimmy Lai pleaded not guilty to all charges at the resumption of his national security trial in Hong Kong on Tuesday. The media tycoon and pro-democracy activist is facing up to life in prison if found guilty on the charges against him, brought under the 2021 national security law and a colonial-era sedition law. Wearing a white shirt and a navy blue jacket, and surrounded by three prison guards in the defendant’s dock, the 76-year-old replied “not guilty” in English to each of the charges read out on Tuesday. He…
‘I’m very proud of him’: Sebastien Lai on Hong Kong, accountability and his father Jimmy’s trial
Sebastien Lai is sitting in a downtown coffee shop, on a blustery day in Taipei. The 28-year-old was only recently married, but is spending much of his time flying around the world advocating for his father’s freedom. Days earlier, his father, Jimmy Lai, the prominent media mogul and democracy activist, went on trial in Hong Kong. Lai senior is accused of conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the 2020 national security law, and conspiring to publish seditious material, under a colonial-era sedition law. He faces up to life in…
The Guardian view on Jimmy Lai: this sham trial is another bleak day for Hong Kong | Editorial
Hong Kong police are reportedly deploying 1,000 officers around the clock to guard the courtroom where the trial of Jimmy Lai began on Monday, three years after his arrest. Like the decision to hold the British citizen in solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison, this is theatre. Mr Lai, a media mogul and pro-democracy activist, is 76. His allies in the 2019 movement to uphold Hong Kong’s freedoms are themselves in jail or have fled abroad. Political opposition has been ruthlessly suppressed following the protests. Mr Lai is charged with conspiring to…
Jimmy Lai trial: heavy security presence as landmark national security case begins in Hong Kong
The media mogul and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai has gone on trial at a heavily guarded Hong Kong court on national security charges that could lead to life imprisonment. Lai’s trial, expected to last months, is one of the most high-profile prosecutions in the Hong Kong government’s crackdown on opposition, and has been widely condemned by rights groups and other governments. The 76-year-old pro-democracy activist and founder of the now-closed Apple Daily newspaper has been accused of conspiring to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security under sweeping legislation…
David Cameron calls on Hong Kong to release Jimmy Lai
The UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, has called for the release of the British citizen Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy newspaper publisher facing a “politically motivated prosecution” in a high-profile trial in Hong Kong. In a significant intervention, the former prime minister condemned the charges against Lai, 76, who faces a possible life sentence if convicted under a national security law that China imposed after the 2019 pro-democracy protests. Lai is charged with colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring with others to publish seditious material. The trial…
World watches as landmark Jimmy Lai trial set to begin in Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s global reputation will be tested this week when the long-delayed trial of the pro-democracy activist and former media mogul Jimmy Lai gets under way. Lai, who turned 76 in jail this month, is charged with colluding with foreign forces under the national security law, as well as sedition. If convicted, which experts say is highly likely, the British national faces spending the rest of his life in prison. The trial starts on Monday, two weeks after another landmark hearing came to an end on 4 December. The Hong…