Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai to testify in his own defense at trial

A defense lawyer said Thursday that prominent publisher Jimmy Lai will testify in his defense in the landmark national security trial brought under a Beijing-imposed law that has all but wiped out public dissent.

Lai, the 76-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was arrested in 2020 during a crackdown on the mass pro-democracy protests that rocked Hong Kong in 2019. He was charged with colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring with others to put out seditious publications. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

On Wednesday, Lai’s lawyer Robert Pang argued his client had no case to answer because the prosecutors’ evidence was insufficient. Pang said the prosecution had failed to prove Lai’s intent after the introduction of the 2020 law and stressed the importance of freedom of speech.

But judges Esther Toh, Susana D’Almada Remedios and Alex Lee, who were approved by the government to oversee the case, ruled against him on Thursday.

"Having considered all the submission, we ruled that the first defendant has a case to answer on all charges," Toh said, without elaborating.

Lai appeared to be at ease after the ruling.

Pang said in court that Lai would testify in his defense. The case has been adjourned to Nov. 20.

Observers said Lai’s high-profile case, which has already stretched over 90 days, is a trial of press freedom and a test for judicial independence in the Asian financial hub.

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When Britain handed back Hong Kong to China in 1997, the city was promised to have its Western-style civil liberties kept intact for 50 years. However, the freedoms that once set Hong Kong apart from mainland China, including freedoms of press and assembly, have drastically shrunk since the enactment of the 2020 security law.

Beijing and Hong Kong governments insist that the law brought back stability to the city following the social unrest.

The prosecutors have alleged that Lai had engaged in requesting foreign countries, especially the United States, to take actions against Beijing "under the guise of fighting for freedom and democracy."

They pointed to Lai’s meetings with former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other senior senators in the United States in July 2019 to discuss a now-withdrawn extradition bill that sparked the massive anti-government protests that year. They alleged Lai had sought support from the U.S. on sanctioning Beijing and Hong Kong’s leaders who allegedly cracked down the movement.

In 2022, six former Apple Daily executives entered guilty pleas and admitted to the court they conspired with Lai to call for sanctions or other hostile activities against Hong Kong or China. They were convicted and await sentencing behind bars.

During the trial, some of the former executives, alongside two others who also pleaded guilty to collusion charges, have testified as the prosecution’s witnesses.

Hong Kong, once seen as a bastion of media freedom in Asia, ranked 135th out of 180 countries and territories in Reporters Without Borders’ latest World Press Freedom Index.