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HONG KONG, December 12 (dpa): Hong Kong media mogul and activist Jimmy Lai was denied bail on Saturday after being charged with foreign collusion, a new crime created this year under the law national security of the city imposed by Beijing.
Prosecutors sought to postpone the case until April, to give them more time to review the main evidence in the case: Lai’s Twitter account, which he used to criticize the central and Hong Kong governments.
If convicted, the 73-year-old businessman, who was brought to court in chains, faces a possible maximum sentence of life in prison.
Lai, owner of a pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has been detained since last week when he was denied bail in connection with fraud charges related to an alleged leasing violation at his company headquarters.
Like a thorn in Beijing’s side, Lai also spent two days in police custody in August when his company, Next Digital Media, was raided by hundreds of police officers under the radical new national security law.
Trials under the law are heard by judges selected by the Beijing-backed city leader, Executive Director Carrie Lam.
The law, which aims at secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, was imposed by Beijing in June, bypassing the city’s elected representatives and waiving public consultation.
Since then, there has been a steady rate of dissenting voices attacked by law enforcement. This week alone, 16 supporters of the democratic movement were arrested.
Beijing imposed national security law on Hong Kong earlier this year after stormy protests in 2019 that began with an extradition bill and expanded to include demands for more democracy in the former British colony.
The new law prohibits secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces to intervene in Hong Kong affairs. It has restricted freedom of expression in the city and is seen by democracy activists as a way to suppress dissent.
Meanwhile, AP reports that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted on Saturday morning Asia time that security law “makes a mockery of justice.”
He called for Lai’s release, saying his only crime is telling the truth about the authoritarian rule of the Communist Party of China.
Lai, the highest-profile person charged under the security law, has also been arrested for other alleged crimes this year. He has been accused of participating in unauthorized protests and fraud for alleged violations of office lease terms.
He has advocated for other countries to take a tougher stance on China and met with Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence in the United States last year to discuss the extradition bill, which the Hong Kong government eventually withdrew.
Pence also tweeted about Lai, saying the charges against him are “an affront to freedom-loving people everywhere.”
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