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A landmark nationwide safety trial opened Monday in Hong Kong for distinguished activist writer Jimmy Lai, who faces a potential life sentence if convicted beneath a regulation imposed by Beijing to crush dissidents.
Lai, 76, was arrested in August 2020 throughout a crackdown on the town’s pro-democracy motion beneath the sweeping nationwide safety regulation enacted following enormous protests 4 years in the past. He’s charged with colluding with international forces to hazard nationwide safety and conspiring with others to place out seditious publications.
The carefully watched case — tied to the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Every day that Lai based — is broadly seen as a trial of press freedom and a check for judicial independence within the Asian monetary hub.
China promised that the previous British colony may retain its Western-style civil liberties for 50 years after returning to Chinese language rule in 1997. However in recent times, the Hong Kong authorities has severely restricted free speech and meeting and nearly eradicated political opposition beneath the rubric of sustaining nationwide safety. Many main activists had been arrested, silenced or pressured into self-exile.
Lai’s trial is Hong Kong’s first on fees of collusion with international forces. It additionally targets three corporations associated to Apple Every day.
Lai smiled at his supporters after he walked into the courtroom. Some members of the general public waved at Lai to point out their assist. Hong Kong’s Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen, a vocal democracy advocate within the metropolis, was among the many attendees.
Three judges, accredited by the federal government, are overseeing the proceedings. The trial is anticipated to final about 80 days.
Final 12 months, six former Apple Every day executives entered responsible pleas to collusion fees, admitting to the court docket they conspired with Lai to name for sanctions or different hostile actions towards Hong Kong or China. They had been convicted and await sentencing behind bars.
A few of the former executives, alongside two others who additionally pleaded responsible to collusion fees, are anticipated to testify as witnesses for the prosecution of Lai.
Outdoors the court docket constructing, there was a heavy police presence. Dozens of residents queued as much as attend the listening to hours earlier than its begin.
Jolly Chung, 29, was among the many first within the line, saying she would attempt to get in to look at the proceedings every time she will.
“As a Hong Konger, I wish to witness this, regardless that I do know he’ll lose,” she mentioned.
Andy Sung, in his 40s, mentioned he got here to witness historical past. “Selecting to return here’s a small follow of some type of resistance,” he mentioned.
Lai’s trial was initially scheduled to begin final December however was postponed whereas the Hong Kong authorities appealed to Beijing to successfully block his try to rent a British protection lawyer. Metropolis authorities subsequently barred the lawyer, Timothy Owen, from representing Lai, saying it could possible pose nationwide safety dangers.
Final week, Lai’s son Sebastien met with Britain’s international secretary, David Cameron, to foyer for Britain’s assist in liberating his father, who holds British citizenship.
Cameron mentioned in an announcement that the safety regulation is a “clear breach” of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and its continued use reveals China has damaged its worldwide commitments.
British and Chinese language authorities signed the settlement in 1984, stipulating that Hong Kong would retain a excessive diploma of autonomy and freedoms for 50 years.
Cameron mentioned he was significantly involved by the “politically motivated prosecution” of Lai. He urged Chinese language officers to repeal the safety regulation and launch Lai.
“Jimmy Lai has been focused in a transparent try and cease the peaceable train of his rights to freedom of expression and affiliation,” Cameron mentioned.
The U.S. condemned the prosecution of Lai and urged authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing to respect press freedom, U.S. State Division spokesperson Matthew Miller mentioned.
“We name on Hong Kong authorities to instantly launch Jimmy Lai and all others imprisoned for defending their rights,” he mentioned.
The chairpersons of the U.S. Congressional-Government Fee on China mentioned in an announcement that the trial is a “political prosecution plain and easy and one other unhappy instance of the Hong Kong authorities’s more and more repressive insurance policies.” Additionally they known as for Lai’s launch and urged authorities to drop the fees towards him.
Hong Kong, as soon as seen as a bastion of media freedom in Asia, ranked a hundred and fortieth out of 180 international locations and territories in Reporters With out Borders’ newest World Press Freedom Index. The group mentioned the town had seen an “unprecedented setback” since 2020, when the safety regulation was imposed.
On-line information outlet Stand Information, recognized for its brazenly essential stance towards the Hong Kong authorities, was pressured to close down beneath the crackdown, with its two former prime editors being charged with sedition.
The governments of each Hong Kong and China have hailed the regulation for bringing again stability to the town.