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Media mogul Jimmy Lai denied bail
Pro-Democratic media mogul Jimmy Lai will remain in jail after the Hong Kong Supreme Court denied him the possibility of being released on bail.
Pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai is leaving the Hong Kong Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Jimmy Lai’s case is being closely watched as he is the first to fully test the strict new security law introduced in Hong Kong by Beijing this summer.
The failure of Lai to be released on bail pending trial is a clear violation of Hong Kong’s previous practice of allowing non-violent crime suspects to be released on bail.
The 73-year-old is the owner of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily and is one of more than 100 people suspected of violating the new security law. Among other things, he is suspected of having collaborated with the governments of other countries urging them to get involved in the situation in Hong Kong.
Lai was arrested in December, but was released shortly thereafter on bail of HK $ 10 million, equivalent to around SEK 10.5 million. However, after only one week he was detained again because the decision to release him had been appealed to a higher court. The Supreme Court ruled that he must remain in prison until the new bail hearing, which has already taken place.
Beijing’s controversial security law has been criticized for restricting Hong Kong’s freedoms and is seen as impoverishing the region’s previous relative independence from mainland China. The Hong Kong and Beijing authorities reject the criticism.
