Zürcher Nachrichten - Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai pleads not guilty to national security crimes

EUR -
AED 3.879106
AFN 71.836244
ALL 97.811336
AMD 409.193719
ANG 1.896546
AOA 964.767481
ARS 1057.965564
AUD 1.621423
AWG 1.895185
AZN 1.793297
BAM 1.948627
BBD 2.124799
BDT 125.757076
BGN 1.951427
BHD 0.39801
BIF 3108.08826
BMD 1.056122
BND 1.409724
BOB 7.298135
BRL 6.108237
BSD 1.052341
BTN 88.868865
BWP 14.317499
BYN 3.443855
BYR 20699.997333
BZD 2.121212
CAD 1.475794
CDF 3031.070946
CHF 0.934325
CLF 0.037176
CLP 1025.800392
CNY 7.651811
CNH 7.654574
COP 4638.901086
CRC 534.935915
CUC 1.056122
CUP 27.987241
CVE 109.860593
CZK 25.288005
DJF 187.391967
DKK 7.459751
DOP 63.377302
DZD 140.847301
EGP 52.439323
ERN 15.841835
ETB 129.521173
FJD 2.396555
FKP 0.833615
GBP 0.833122
GEL 2.899058
GGP 0.833615
GHS 16.763293
GIP 0.833615
GMD 74.453318
GNF 9069.699448
GTQ 8.124094
GYD 220.059938
HKD 8.219219
HNL 26.589625
HRK 7.533594
HTG 138.242425
HUF 409.331816
IDR 16812.516711
ILS 3.95249
IMP 0.833615
INR 89.124787
IQD 1378.525516
IRR 44468.030174
ISK 145.4805
JEP 0.833615
JMD 166.908754
JOD 0.749106
JPY 164.434545
KES 136.739257
KGS 91.358758
KHR 4274.306342
KMF 490.859257
KPW 950.509681
KRW 1474.515714
KWD 0.324737
KYD 0.876972
KZT 522.187777
LAK 23073.283512
LBP 94236.698004
LKR 306.175837
LRD 191.527689
LSL 19.023949
LTL 3.118455
LVL 0.638837
LYD 5.133153
MAD 10.514196
MDL 19.125777
MGA 4918.962692
MKD 61.523484
MMK 3430.244075
MNT 3588.703562
MOP 8.436544
MRU 41.882224
MUR 48.89539
MVR 16.317201
MWK 1824.808623
MXN 21.30283
MYR 4.718227
MZN 67.549792
NAD 19.026462
NGN 1768.803991
NIO 38.727806
NOK 11.64068
NPR 142.191924
NZD 1.793975
OMR 0.406608
PAB 1.052326
PEN 3.993599
PGK 4.234453
PHP 62.304351
PKR 292.445633
PLN 4.337977
PYG 8195.907685
QAR 3.837872
RON 4.975922
RSD 116.964891
RUB 105.76711
RWF 1447.499029
SAR 3.964845
SBD 8.839236
SCR 14.123089
SDG 635.259601
SEK 11.583217
SGD 1.417126
SHP 0.833615
SLE 23.865744
SLL 22146.361842
SOS 601.397587
SRD 37.533002
STD 21859.599575
SVC 9.208104
SYP 2653.538845
SZL 19.021251
THB 36.646628
TJS 11.186222
TMT 3.706989
TND 3.315794
TOP 2.473539
TRY 36.43942
TTD 7.145696
TWD 34.367268
TZS 2802.929587
UAH 43.446088
UGX 3874.736724
USD 1.056122
UYU 45.173711
UZS 13496.318762
VES 48.397494
VND 26838.708277
VUV 125.384963
WST 2.948261
XAF 653.560464
XAG 0.034096
XAU 0.000402
XCD 2.854224
XDR 0.800465
XOF 653.560464
XPF 119.331742
YER 263.925472
ZAR 19.146821
ZMK 9506.370021
ZMW 29.071261
ZWL 340.070954
  • RBGPF

    59.6500

    59.65

    +100%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0700

    6.62

    -1.06%

  • SCS

    -0.1100

    13.09

    -0.84%

  • GSK

    -0.2300

    33.46

    -0.69%

  • CMSD

    -0.0460

    24.344

    -0.19%

  • BTI

    0.2500

    36.93

    +0.68%

  • RIO

    0.3100

    62.43

    +0.5%

  • CMSC

    -0.0590

    24.565

    -0.24%

  • RELX

    0.2500

    45.29

    +0.55%

  • NGG

    0.6800

    63.58

    +1.07%

  • VOD

    0.0000

    8.92

    0%

  • AZN

    0.4100

    63.8

    +0.64%

  • JRI

    0.0300

    13.26

    +0.23%

  • BCC

    -3.3600

    138.18

    -2.43%

  • BCE

    0.0800

    27.31

    +0.29%

  • BP

    -0.3300

    29.09

    -1.13%

Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai pleads not guilty to national security crimes
Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai pleads not guilty to national security crimes / Photo: PETER PARKS - AFP/File

Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai pleads not guilty to national security crimes

Hong Kong pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai pleaded not guilty Tuesday to "sedition" and "collusion" charges in a high-profile national security trial that could see him jailed for life.

Text size:

The charges against Lai –- founder of the now-shuttered popular Chinese-language tabloid Apple Daily –- revolve around the newspaper's publications, which supported pro-democracy protests and criticised Beijing's leadership.

Lai, 76, is also accused of collusion via calling for international sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials.

"Not guilty," Lai said in English for each of the three charges read out.

Wearing a white shirt and a navy blue jacket, the septuagenarian was surrounded by three prison guards in the defendant's dock.

He wore headphones to help him hear the trial more clearly, according to his lawyer.

Lai's trial, which began in late 2023 after he was jailed for more than 1,100 days, is being closely watched as a barometer of Hong Kong's political freedoms and judicial independence.

Other defendants in the case include three Apple Daily companies that have been taken over by the Hong Kong government, six former executives of the newspaper, and two young activists related to an advocacy group called Stand With Hong Kong Fight For Freedom (SWHK).

"This case is about a radical political figure... who conspired with others to bring into hatred and stir up opposition to the government of (Hong Kong) and the central authorities and to collude with foreign countries or external elements to endanger national security," lead prosecutor Anthony Chau told the court Tuesday.

Chau called Lai "the mastermind" who used his media business "as a platform to pursue his political agenda... and orchestrated a conspiracy with the so-called democracy and freedom advocacy group Stand with Hong Kong Fight for Freedom".

The prosecution cited 161 publications of Apple Daily between April 2019 and the newspaper's last day in June 2021 as "examples of seditious publications... with a view to polluting the minds of the impressionable ones".

Lai was also accused of providing instructions and financial support for SWHK to lobby foreign countries for sanctions, including the United States, the UK, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Czech Republic, Portugal and Ireland.

He was originally charged with one count of "conspiracy to produce seditious publications", two counts of "conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security" and one count of "collusion".

The latter two offences carry up to life in jail under the security law Beijing imposed in 2020 to quell dissent after the huge democracy protests the year before.

Prosecutors told the court Tuesday they will not pursue the standalone "collusion" charge as it formed part of Lai's "conspiracy to collusion" charge.

L.Muratori--NZN