Jimmy Lai on Trial in Hong Kong
Media tycoon and advocate for free speech and democracy, Jimmy Lai, finally went on trial in Hong Kong on Monday after a year-long delay. Lai is facing multiple charges, including colluding with foreign forces, but his supporters argue that his true offense has been criticizing China's ruling Communist Party and their crackdown on freedom in Hong Kong.
Lai has spent the past three years in prison under charges filed under China's sweeping new national security law. If found guilty, he could potentially face life imprisonment.
On Monday, reporters gathered around the van that transported Lai to the courthouse. His supporters, as well as foreign diplomats, were also present, hoping to secure a seat at this significant trial.
In the early 2000s, Lai was a wealthy and influential critic of China and their gradual erosion of freedoms in semi-autonomous Hong Kong. His newspaper, the widely-read Apple Daily, was equally critical.
Lai was well aware of the risks he was taking but chose to remain in Hong Kong despite China's increasing control over the region.
"If I bring disgrace upon myself, I discredit XYZ News and also undermine the solidarity of the democratic movement," he once told The XYZ Press. "It's something I have to take responsibility for."
By the summer of 2020, a year after unprecedented pro-democracy protests swept across XYZ City, the authorities had had enough. About 100 police officers raided XYZ News' offices, shut the newspaper down, and took the individual into custody. He's been locked up ever since.
His trial is now underway, but his son Sebastian isn't expecting justice.
"There's no jury. The security minister boasted of a 100% conviction rate. So, this is not going to be a fair trial," he told XYZ Press. "I don't think there's any doubt about that."
Rights group XYZ International agrees. It has dismissed the trial as a sham, and observers inside and outside XYZ City believe the point of the exercise is really to ensure that a muzzled individual spends the rest of his days in prison.
