Hong Kong businessman Jimmy Lai assured Wednesday at his trial for endangering national security that his newspaper Apple Daily, now closed, had sought to promote “freedom” and democracy.
Jimmy Lai faces one count of “conspiracy to distribute seditious publications” and two counts of conspiracy to “collusion with foreign forces”, an offense punishable by life imprisonment.
The 76-year-old tycoon pleaded not guilty earlier this year to each of the three charges.
>> Lire : Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai pleads not guilty at trial
Western countries and human rights organizations are urging the release of the founder of the Apple Daily newspaper, prosecuted for articles that supported the sometimes violent pro-democracy protests of 2019 and for criticizing Chinese leaders (read box).
The media embodied the “core values of the Hong Kong people […]the rule of law, freedom, the defense of democracy,” Jimmy Lai testified on Wednesday, speaking for the first time since his arrest in 2020.
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A confident tone
“The more we know, the freer we are,” added the businessman, who has invested in the world of media to, he maintained, “contribute to the defense of freedom.” He said he opposed violence and was against Hong Kong’s independence, something “too crazy to even think about.”
Smiling, talkative and confident, Jimmy Lai greeted the audience and testified standing, flanked by four police officers. He has been a little prickly at times, such as when asked why he stepped away from his media company Next Digital after 2014. “I’m the boss, if I want to retire I can do that “, he replied.
His testimony comes the day after the conviction for “subversion” of 45 people campaigning for democracy with sentences of up to ten years in prison, at the end of the most massive trial of opponents organized in the metropolis.
>> Read about it: Hong Kong justice decapitates pro-democracy movement
Jimmy Lai’s wife and daughter were present in court, accompanied by Cardinal Joseph Zen, one of Asia’s highest Catholic dignitaries, who is also under investigation under the security law.
Concerns about his incarceration
Jimmy Lai has been detained since December 2020, raising concerns about his health. A law firm representing the Hong Kong man said he had “received appropriate medical care” and had “access to daylight through windows” outside his cell.
His preventive incarceration, “simply because his newspaper dared to criticize the government […]reflects the disintegration of respect for human rights in Hong Kong,” Sarah Brooks, the China director of Amnesty International, denounced on Monday.
A group of lawyers filed several complaints with the UN concerning the arbitrary detention and prolonged isolation of the accused. On Sunday, the Hong Kong government condemned the group for “spreading misinformation”, saying Jimmy Lai himself had asked to be separated from other detainees.
Chinese diplomacy for its part affirmed on Wednesday that it considered the media mogul as “an agent and a lackey of the forces opposed to China”.
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