Jimmy Lai, the 76-year-old founder of the Hong Kong tabloid Apple Daily, will take the stand Wednesday in a national security trial that could see him sentenced to life in prison.
They are accused of colluding with foreign powers by using their media platform to oppose the government.
This is his first time testifying in court, although he has undergone multiple trials since 2020 – all widely seen as politically motivated.
Lai is one of the most influential pro-democracy figures in the city, which has come under an increasingly harsh crackdown from Beijing.
His hearing on Wednesday comes a day after 45 pro-democracy activists – part of a group known as the Hong Kong 47 – were convicted in the city’s biggest trial under the National Security Law.
Lai’s ongoing trial concerns allegations that Apple Daily published articles supporting the pro-democracy protests that rocked the city in 2019, which Beijing sees as a threat to national stability.
Lai argued on Wednesday that he opposes violence and that advocating Hong Kong independence is “too crazy to think about”.
“Apple Daily’s core values are actually the core values of Hong Kong people,” he said. He said these values include “the rule of law, liberty, the pursuit of democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly.”
He said he joined the media industry to “participate in the provision of freedom”.
He faces up to life in prison if convicted of conspiracy.
