Jimmy Lai is escorted to a prison van by Correctional Services officers, December 31, 2020. Credit: AP Images
Over the years, courtroom seven in Hong Kong’s High Court Building has hosted a number of blockbuster trials. Last month, one of its most high-profile was scheduled to begin: that of Jimmy Lai, the media mogul and founder of the now defunct Apple Daily, once the city’s largest newspaper.
Since he was first detained three years ago, Lai — a longtime pro-democracy advocate and critic of Beijing — has already been sentenced three times for joining unauthorized protests, and once for fraud. But the most serious charge he is facing is for allegedly “colluding with foreign forces,” a crime under the city’s draconian national security law (NSL).
If convicted, the 75-year-old could face years behind bars. Yet more is at stake than his personal freedom: Lai’s trial and the processes around it have drawn international scrutiny on how Hong Kong’s legal system, long vital to the city’s status as Asia’s leading business and financial center, is changing under increa
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