Hong Kong Tycoon, the founder of Apple Daily Jimmy Lai told a court he will plead not guilty to national security charges. 74-year-old Lai will stand trial without a jury.
If Lai had pleaded guilty, he could have asked for a reduced sentence. If he is found guilty now, Lai could be sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors on Monday told a case management hearing that Lai would challenge the accusations but six fellow executives and a manager from the now-defunct Apple Daily or its parent company, Next Digital, intended to plead guilty, The Guardian reported.
Lai, a pro-democracy activist is currently serving time for participating in and organising protests that swept Hong Kong in 2019. China, in 2020 imposed the draconian National Security Law silencing independent voices. Lai's paper Apple Daily was one of the casualties of the law. Stand news and numerous other independent media outlets were forcibly shut down after the National Security Law was imposed. Several pro-democracy activists were arrested too.
