By Jessie Pang and James Pomfret
HONG KONG, November 20 (Reuters) – Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai, 76, testified in court docket for the primary time on Wednesday in his landmark nationwide safety trial, accused of endangering China’s nationwide safety by colluding with overseas forces.
Lai was first arrested, below the nationwide safety legislation in August 2020, and has spent a lot of the time since in jail. He additionally faces separate sedition expenses linked to his newspaper.
The prosecution has accused Lai of alleged collusion with overseas forces, which it says included conferences with U.S. officers in Washington in the course of the presidency of Donald Trump, calling for sanctions towards Chinese language and Hong Kong officers.
Lai has pleaded not responsible to 2 expenses of conspiracy to collude with overseas forces and a cost of conspiracy to publish seditious materials.
WHY DOES IT MATTER?
The trial is extensively seen as a landmark nationwide safety case after Beijing imposed sweeping safety legal guidelines on Hong Kong in 2020 following months of pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Lai, a longstanding critic of the Chinese language Communist Social gathering, is likely one of the most excessive profile figures to face prosecution below the legislation. Diplomats are actively observing the court docket hearings in particular person with this case seen as a key check for Hong Kong’s judicial independence.
Hong Kong’s former colonial ruler Britain and the US have condemned the trial and have referred to as for Lai’s fast launch. Hong Kong officers say Lai will obtain a good trial.
WHAT IS THE PROSECUTION’S CASE?
Prosecutor Anthony Chau described Lai as a “radical” and alleged he was on the centre of conspiracies to collude with overseas forces and publish seditious materials in his Apple (NASDAQ:) Every day newspaper.
Chau alleged that Lai used “the guise of fighting for freedom and democracy” to request that overseas international locations, particularly the US, impose sanctions or have interaction in different hostile actions towards Hong Kong and China.
The court docket heard that one instance of Lai’s alleged collusion was July 2019 conferences he held with U.S. President Donald Trump’s then vice chairman Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo at a time when Hong Kong’s mass pro-democracy and pro-democracy protests had been intensifying.
Lai stated in giving his first court docket testimony on Wednesday that he had by no means sought to affect the overseas coverage of different international locations, such because the U.S., in the direction of China and Hong Kong.
“I would not dare to ask the vice president (Pence) to do anything. I would just relay to him what happened in Hong Kong when he asked me,” Lai advised the Hong Kong court docket.
WHO IS THE PROSECUTION LINKING WITH LAI?
The prosecution listed brokers and intermediaries of Lai, together with former U.S. Deputy Protection Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, former U.S. Consul Common to Hong Kong James Cunningham, and founding father of the Hong Kong Watch rights group Benedict Rogers (NYSE:). Commenting from outdoors Hong Kong, Cunningham and Rogers stated Lai’s interactions had been regular, authorized exercise.
Prosecutors additionally stated that they had recognized a syndicate led by Lai, which they stated included activists, his aide, rights campaigners, a Japanese congresswoman and a U.S. financier.
The prosecution case says these folks contacted the U.S., Britain, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Czech Republic, Portugal and Eire to impose sanctions or take different hostile actions towards Hong Kong and China.
Prosecutors described Lai as “the mastermind and financial supporter at the highest level command of the syndicate”.
Lai, nonetheless, stated he had by no means donated any cash to political events abroad or in Taiwan. He added that he had solely donated cash to U.S. thinktanks and spiritual teams.
One rely of collusion stated Lai had hyperlinks to a bunch the prosecution named as “Stand With Hong Kong Fight For Freedom” (SWHK), which it stated lobbied international locations for sanctions on China and Hong Kong.
Mark Simon, Lai’s aide and a U.S. citizen, executed his directions and vetted requests for monetary help, in accordance with prosecutors.
However Andy Li, a key prosecution witness linked to SWHK, who had been jailed for seven months in a Chinese language jail earlier than the trial, stated below cross examination on April 10 that he had by no means met nor contacted Lai, and had “never” acquired cash from Lai nor from entities he believed had been related to Lai.
Prosecutors additionally accused Lai of utilizing Apple Every day as a platform to conspire with three of its subsidiaries, six former executives linked to the newspaper, and workers members Mark Simon and others to collude with overseas forces.
Lai, nonetheless, stated he hardly ever issued directions or instructions on protection to the newsroom.
Cheung Kim-hung, the previous CEO of Apple Every day’s guardian firm Subsequent (LON:) Digital, advised the court docket he had been instructed by Lai to name folks to affix protests in 2019, and to push for sanctions towards Hong Kong and Chinese language officers. Cheung denied being requested by the police to change into a prosecution witness whereas remanded in custody.
