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HONG KONG (REUTERS) – Hong Kong democracy activist and media mogul Jimmy Lai has been indicted under the city’s national security law on suspicion of conspiring with foreign forces and endangering the national security, local media reported on Friday (December 11), citing a police source. .
Lai, a fervent critic of Beijing, is the highest-profile person charged under the sweeping new law imposed on the Chinese-ruled city in June.
He was due to appear in court on Saturday, according to Apple Daily, a popular tabloid known for its energetic and critical coverage of China and Hong Kong.
The security law, which punishes what Beijing broadly defines as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison, has been condemned by the West and human rights groups as a tool to crush dissent in the semi-autonomous. City ruled by China.
Authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing say it is vital to plug holes in national security defenses exposed by months of sometimes violent anti-government and anti-China protests that rocked the global financial center over the past year.
“The goal is to keep Jimmy Lai and shut up Jimmy Lai,” said Mark Simon, a Lai associate.
Hong Kong police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The publishing mogul is one of the financial center’s most prominent democratic activists, while his Next Media group is considered one of Hong Kong’s remaining key bastions of media freedom.
Tensions between China and the United States have escalated in recent weeks as Washington accuses Beijing of using security law to trample on the far-reaching freedoms guaranteed when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
The authorities have stepped up their crackdown on opposition forces in the city, firing legislators from the legislature, carrying out widespread arrests and jailing high-profile democratic activists like Joshua Wong.
Lai, 73, was denied bail earlier this month following his arrest on a separate count of fraud related to the leasing of a building that houses his Apple Daily, an anti-government tabloid.
Local media TVB and Cable TV said Lai had been charged with two crimes, while NOW TV said Lai’s charges stemmed from seeking sanctions against Hong Kong.
He was arrested in August when some 200 police officers swooped on his offices. Hong Kong police later said they had arrested nine men and one woman for alleged crimes that included “collusion with a foreign country / external elements to endanger national security, conspiracy to defraud” and others.
The mogul had been a frequent visitor to Washington, where he met with officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to rally support for Hong Kong’s democracy, prompting Beijing to label him a “traitor.”
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