HONG KONG (AP) – Hong Kong prominent lawyer and newspaper publisher Jimmy Lai was denied bail again on Thursday ahead of his trial in April on charges of collusion with foreign forces.
Lai is one of several activists facing charges and possibly lengthy prison terms under the comprehensive national security law imposed by Beijing on the semi-autonomous southern Chinese city last year after massive protests against the government in 2019.
Critics at home and abroad say the legislation amounts to a suppression of political disagreement and freedom of speech that defends the rights and freedoms promised to Hong Kong under the “one country, two systems” framework, after the handover of the British colonial government in 1997.
CHINA extends rule requiring government authorization for bloggers
Arrested and charged in early December, bail was first denied bail and then granted on appeal under strict conditions. This led to a waning attack on the Hong Kong judiciary by the ruling Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily. Lai was then remanded in prison under a provision of the law that allows a judge to refuse bail in cases where the person can again commit the crime for which they are already on trial.
FILE – In this file on February 9, 2021, Democrat Advocate Jimmy Lai leaves the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. (AP Photo / Kin Cheung)
((AP Photo / Kin Cheung))
Lai’s latest appeal Thursday at the Hong Kong High Court was based on separate legal grounds. He is also facing charges of fraud related to the use of office space by his Apple Daily newspaper and other media outlets, which reported that he was also arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of helping dissidents to leave Hong Kong. flight.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Along with Martin Lee, an 82-year-old veteran of the Hong Kong Democratic Movement, Lai is one of the most senior critics of the current government backed in Beijing, and he has long received legal and commercial retaliation for his statements and activism.