Jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai insisted his newspaper had championed democracy and “freedom” as he took the witness stand for the first time in his collusion trial on Wednesday.
Lai’s case is one of the most prominent prosecuted under the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, with Western countries and rights groups demanding his release.
The 76-year-old founder of tabloid Apple Daily is accused of colluding with foreign forces, a charge that could carry a sentence of up to life in prison.
The case centres around articles in the newspaper that supported huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019 and criticised Beijing’s leadership.
On Wednesday, Lai insisted that “the core values of Apple Daily are actually the core values of the people of Hong Kong… (including) rule of law, freedom, pursuit of democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly”.
He said he had entered the media business because “to participate in delivering freedom is a very good idea for me… The more you are in the know, the more you are free”.
But he said he opposed violence and was not an advocate of Hong Kong independence, calling it “too crazy to think about”.
Lai did not appear to be in ill health as he stood in the dock, flanked by four prison officers and waving to people in the public gallery.
His testimony comes with Hong Kong’s political freedoms already under the spotlight after a court jailed 45 democracy campaigners for subversion in the city’s largest national security trial on Tuesday.
Lai has been behind bars since December 2020, and concerns have been raised about his medical and jail conditions.
He has not opted to testify in any of his five previous cases, all of which resulted in convictions, including for organising and participating in marches during the 2019 democracy protests.
Outside the court in pouring rain on Wednesday, an 80-year-old retiree named Liu told AFP Lai “deserves our admiration”.
“He has a lot of money, he could have left anytime, but he didn’t because he felt a responsibility,” Liu said.
