HONG KONG (AP) – Hong Kong’s prominent democracy defender and newspaper editor Jimmy Lai was again denied on bail on Thursday, before his trial in April, on charges of collusion with foreign forces.
Lai is one of several activists facing charges and possibly long prison terms under the comprehensive National Security Law that Beijing imposed on the semi-autonomous city of southern China last year, after massive anti-government protests in 2019.
Critics at home and abroad say the legislation amounts to a crackdown on political dissent and freedom of expression that is eroding Hong Kong’s promised rights and freedoms under the structure of “one country, two systems” after the transfer of colonial rule British in 1997.
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Arrested and charged in early December, Lai was initially denied bail and then granted it on an appeal under strict conditions equivalent to a form of house arrest. This provoked a massive attack on the Hong Kong judiciary by the Communist Party’s People’s Daily. Lai was then returned to prison under a provision of the law that allows a judge to deny bail in cases where the person can re-commit the crime for which he already faces charges.
ARCHIVE – In this February 9, 2021 archive photo, democracy advocate Jimmy Lai leaves Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal. (AP Photo / Kin Cheung)
((AP Photo / Kin Cheung))
Lai’s last appeal to the Hong Kong High Court on Thursday was based on different legal grounds. He also faces charges of fraud related to the use of office space by his Apple Daily newspaper and other media, who reported that he was also arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of helping dissidents escape from Hong Kong.
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Along with Martin Lee, an 82-year-old veteran of the Hong Kong democratic movement, Lai is one of the biggest critics of the current Beijing-backed government and has long faced legal and commercial retaliation for his statements and activism.