Former Hong Kong Publisher Jimmy Lai Begins to Testify in His National Security Trial

Jimmy Lai, founder of Hong Kong’s ‘Apple Daily,’ testified Wednesday in his national security trial, one of the most high-profile cases under the China-imposed law.

Lai, founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily pro-democracy newspaper, was arrested in 2020 during a crackdown on mass pro-democracy protests that rocked Hong Kong starting in 2019.

If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

Lai, a British citizen, is charged with one count of conspiracy to publish seditious publications and two counts of conspiracy to foreign collusion, under the city’s national security law (NSL), which was introduced in 2020 and has been widely condemned as a tool to crush freedoms.