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Published on : 12/12/2020 – 06:50Modified : 12/12/2020 – 06:52
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Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai, a critic of Beijing, appeared in court on Saturday morning to face a charge of “collusion with foreign powers”, which puts him in prison for life.
Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong press mogul and figure of the pro-democracy movement, appeared in court on Saturday, December 12, after being charged the day before with “collusion with a foreign country or with external elements in order to put endangering national security “. This offense makes him incur a sentence of up to life imprisonment.
The prosecutor assured the court that the offense committed by Jimmy Lai was to request, from July 1 to December 1, that a foreign country, institution, organization or individual outside of mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao “impose sanctions or a blockade, or engage in other hostile activities” against Hong Kong and China. Dressed in a suit, apparently calm, Jimmy Lai said he admits the charges.
Hong Kong: pro-democracy mogul Jimmy Lai indicted under national security law
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One of six magistrates handpicked by the city’s pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam to handle national security matters said the prosecution needed time to investigate more than one 1000 messages from his Twitter accounts, interviews he gave and visits abroad.
Already imprisoned on charges of “fraud”, this time he is accused of having violated this drastic law on national security, imposed at the end of June by Beijing and intended to put an end to the monster pro-democracy demonstrations which shook the territory. semi-autonomous last year.
“Following a thorough investigation by the national security police, a 73-year-old man is charged with ‘collusion with a foreign country or with outside forces to endanger national security'” police said in a statement. Offenses related to this draconian legislation are punishable by life imprisonment.
London “very concerned” after indictment of Jimmy Lai
The British government said it was “very concerned” Friday after his indictment. “The United Kingdom remains very concerned about the willingness of the Hong Kong authorities to continue legal proceedings against pro-democracy figures like Jimmy Lai,” a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters.
“We have raised this matter with the authorities and will continue to pressure them at the highest level to stop targeting pro-democracy voices,” he added. In August, hundreds of police carried out a spectacular search, especially in the newsroom of the Apple Daily.
Several leaders of the press group, including Jimmy Lai, had been arrested on suspicion of “collusion with foreign forces” under the national security law. Last week, he was remanded in custody until his trial for fraud set in April.
On Tuesday, he is due to submit a request for release on bail on this count to the High Court. The strong takeover of Hong Kong by China has accelerated since the entry into force at the end of June of the law on national security. Pro-democracy deputies in the local parliament have been dismissed as dozens of activists have been indicted or under investigation.
Called “traitor” by Chinese state media
Last week, three notorious pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam were sentenced to prison. On Friday, a 19-year-old activist was convicted of contempt of the Chinese flag and illegal assembly in May 2019 in front of the local parliament. Jimmy Lai is the fourth person accused of breaking this controversial new legislation, which leaves room for wide interpretation.
Among them are a 19-year-old activist accused of promoting secession on social media, a man who drove a motorbike at police officers during a demonstration and a man who repeatedly chanted pro-democracy slogans directed at the police.
During the search in his newspaper, journalists had posted images on Facebook where Jimmy Lai appeared handcuffed. The front page of the Apple Daily had headlined the next day “Apple will continue to fight”.
Few of the Hong Kong people attract such hatred from Beijing as this man, regularly described as a “traitor” by the Chinese state media, which sees him as the instigator of the 2019 protest.
With AFP and Reuters
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