Hong Kong’s pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai takes stand in collusion trial

Lai denies supporting Hong Kong’s independency and says his now-defunct paper stood for ‘core values’ of the city’s people.

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai has taken the basal for the archetypal clip successful a nationalist information proceedings wide seen arsenic a barometer of the Chinese territory’s diminishing freedoms.

Lai, who faces a maximum punishment of beingness successful situation for alleged collusion with overseas forces, said connected Wednesday that helium had entered the quality concern to “participate successful delivering freedom”.

“The much you are successful the know, the much you are free,” Lai told West Kowloon Magistrates Court.

Answering questions from his lawyer, Lai said that his now-shuttered Apple Daily paper had stood for the “core values” of Hong Kong’s people, including the regularisation of law, state of speech, and the pursuit of democracy.

Asked whether Apple Daily opposed unit during Hong Kong’s wide antigovernment protests successful 2019, Lai said helium ever stood against unit successful “any form”.

The 76-year-old media mogul besides denied supporting independency for Hong Kong oregon Taiwan, advocacy of which is fiercely opposed by Beijing.

Lai’s grounds comes arsenic the narrowing abstraction for dissent successful the erstwhile British colony is already successful the spotlight aft a tribunal connected Tuesday handed down jailhouse presumption to 45 ideology activists successful the city’s largest nationalist information trial.

Lai, who fled to Hong Kong from communist China arsenic a child, has pleaded not blameworthy to 2 charges of conspiracy to collude with overseas forces and a complaint of conspiracy to people seditious material.

Prosecutors person accused Lai of soliciting overseas countries to instrumentality punitive enactment against Beijing, citing his meetings with officials including erstwhile United States Vice President Mike Pence and erstwhile US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Lai already has convictions for offences, including “unauthorised assembly” related to pro-democracy marches, stemming from 5 erstwhile trials during which helium did not testify.

Rights groups and Western governments person condemned the cases against Lai arsenic an illustration of Hong Kong’s deteriorating rights and freedoms since the imposition of a Beijing-drafted nationalist information instrumentality successful 2020.

“The authorities’ cruel persecution of Jimmy Lai is motivated solely by his workout of the close to state of look and committedness to property freedoms,” Amnesty International’s China Director Sarah Brooks said successful a connection released up of Lai’s testimony.

“He is simply a captive of conscience, and the Hong Kong authorities indispensable merchandise him instantly and unconditionally, driblet the charges and expunge each his transgression convictions.”

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies