Prominent Hong Kong activist and publisher Jimmy Lai faces a landmark national security trial, charged with colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring to publish seditious materials under Beijing’s imposed national security law, Associated Press reports.
Lai, 76, was arrested in August 2020 during a crackdown on pro-democracy movements and founded the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper. The trial is viewed as a test of press freedom and judicial independence in Hong Kong, and it marks the first case on collusion with foreign forces.
The trial is expected to last 80 days with several former Apple Daily executives having entered guilty pleas to collusion charges last year. The case has drawn international condemnation with critics viewing it as a political prosecution suppressing rights and freedoms.
