Shannon Brandao
Shannon's excerpt from the article: "DW [excerpt]: The long-awaited trial of #HongKong media tycoon Jimmy Lai began on Monday morning, with a significant police presence deployed outside the courthouse.
...Initially scheduled to start more than a year ago, the trial has been postponed several times.
As the founder of #AppleDaily — a popular news outlet critical of the Chinese Communist Party (#CCP) — Lai was charged with conspiring to collude with foreign forces and publish seditious material.
...Concerns for Lai's health
The trial, which was expected to begin without a jury, could last up to 80 days. Lai faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Given his advanced age, even short sentences in jail pose a great risk to his health, 'I am worried that my dad will pass away (in prison),' Sebastien Lai said.
His father has already been behind bars for over three years. A request for bail was denied and the initial plan to hire a British lawyer, Timothy Owen, also failed after Beijing's intervention. On December 30 of last year, #China gave Chief Executive of Hong Kong John Lee the power to bar foreign lawyers, such as Owen, from cases related to national security.
In late 2021, Lai received a 13-month jail term for charges of involvement in a banned vigil for the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Last year, on a separate count, he was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to five years and nine months in prison.
'The [Chinese] government has tried every effort to keep him out of the public scene,' Eric Lai, a research fellow at Center for Asian Law of Georgetown University (GCAL), told DW.
The media mogul was known as one of the CCP's most outspoken critics. Apple Daily — before being raided by the police and subsequently shut down in 2021 — was particularly vocal about the territory's pro-democracy movement.
His arrest was part of the sweeping crackdown on #pressfreedom and #civilliberties in Hong Kong following the 2019 pro-democracy protests, which were sparked by the government's decision to introduce a bill to facilitate the extradition of criminal suspects to mainland China.
China anxious about global attention
Ahead of the trial, calls for the immediate release of Jimmy Lai grew stronger, from #humanrights groups to foreign governments.
Just one day before the trial began, the United Kingdom and the United States both urged the Chinese authorities to end their prosecution and release Lai. Earlier, the Canadian parliament had also released a 'unanimous' motion calling for his release, following a similar demand made by the European Parliament.
Of all the international support, the #UK's statement is considered particularly critical as Lai holds British citizenship. Last week, Sebastien Lai met British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who promised that London would 'stand by Jimmy Lai and the people of HK,' according to an official post on X, formerly known as Twitter."
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