A Hong Kong court on Friday, December 22, rejected a bid by prominent activist publisher Jimmy Lai to throw out a sedition charge against him, delivering the ruling on the third day of his trial. Lai, 76, was arrested during the city's crackdown on dissidents following huge pro-democracy protests in 2019. He faces possible life imprisonment if convicted under a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing. He is charged with colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring with others to publish seditious publications.
Foreign governments, business professionals, and legal scholars are closely watching the case, which is tied to the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily that Lai founded. Many view it as a trial of the city's freedoms and a test for judicial independence in the Asian financial hub.
Earlier this week, judges Esther Toh, Susana D’Almada Remedios and Alex Lee heard arguments from both sides about whether the prosecution had missed the time limit for charging Lai with sedition. The law requires the prosecution of sedition charges to begin within six months after an alleged offense is committed.
On Friday, the judges, who were approved by the government to oversee the proceedings, ruled the prosecution filed the charge in time. “The application of the defense must fail,” they wrote in their judgment. The trial is expected to last about 80 days without a jury.