WORLD SHOULD “PAY ATTENTION”
The US, Britain, the European Union and the United Nations (UN) have all expressed concerns about Lai’s case – which Beijing has dismissed as smearing and interference.
Lai’s son Sebastien last month told AFP the case was “an opportunity for Hong Kong to show whether they are actually rule-of-law compliant”.
The world “should be paying attention to my father’s case, to the case of Hong Kong”, he said.
The Apple Daily owner’s arrest came during the rapid erosion of press freedom and political dissent in Hong Kong, with analysts saying the trial will show whether the city’s courts can rule independently of Beijing.
How judges draw the line between the concepts of advocacy and collusion will be a key issue to watch, according to Georgetown University legal scholar Eric Lai.
“It is important to observe how the court would define ordinary overseas advocacy activities as a crime,” he told AFP.
The case was “also worth concern in terms of fair trial and due process,” he added.
“ANTI-CHINESE”
Senior Beijing and Hong Kong officials have repeatedly issued statements condemning Lai since 2019.
China’s foreign affairs commissioner in Hong Kong in September accused Lai of being “an agent of the anti-Chinese forces in the United States and the West” and a secessionist.
In a post on X – formerly known as Twitter – Britain’s foreign office said that Foreign Secretary David Cameron met earlier this month with Lai’s son, Sebastien, “to listen to his concerns for his father”.
“The UK opposes the National Security Law and will continue to stand by Jimmy Lai and the people of HK,” the office said on Wednesday.
Beijing blasted the meeting as a clear sign of Britain’s “malicious intentions”, calling Lai “a driving force behind the chaos in Hong Kong“.
Hong Kong follows a common law system due to its colonial history, but Lai’s case differs from how criminal trials are usually run.
He will be tried, without a jury, by three judges drawn from a pool of jurists handpicked by Hong Kong’s leader.
Lai has been jailed since Hong Kong’s top court denied him bail in late 2020 – a change from the city’s previous practices on pre-trial detention.
His case has been further delayed after Hong Kong authorities last year sought to bar Lai from being represented by British rights lawyer Tim Owen, citing security risks.