Hong Kong court refuses to drop sedition charges against pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai

A court in Hong Kong rejected a request to lift sedition charges levelled against pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai on Friday (Dec 22). During the hearing, Lai' lawyer Robert Pang argued that the charges should be dropped as the prosecution did not lay themwithin six months of the alleged crime. But the court rejected the argument along withthe bid todropcharges saying that Lai'swas"a continuing offense and therefore the time limitation did not start to run until after the last date of the alleged conspiracy".

"The court ruled that the prosecution of the sedition charge against the defendants was not time-barred," the judges said in a summary of their judgment as reported by AFP.

"Therefore, the Court had jurisdiction to try the defendants on the sedition charge."

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Lai has been charged with conspiracy to publish seditious publications under a law that dates back to Hong Kong's colonial past.

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Jimmy Lai (76) is founder of Apple Daily, the pro-democracy newspaper that is now defunct followingaction fromHong Kong authorities.

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The prosecution says that Lai's Apple Daily published 161 seditious articles between the period of April 1, 2019 and June 24, 2021. This was before the authorities forced the publication to shut down and froze its assets other than arresting former staff crippling its operations.

Lai was detained for over 1000 days before his trial finally started this month. The US and UK have called for Lai's immediate release. The countries have even asserted that Lai's trial is politically motivated.

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After widespread pro-democracy four years ago, China passed and implemented national security law which many critics say is a tool to suppress any dissent. Preparations are on to enact another round of national security laws known as Article 23. This is likely to tighten China's grip on the former British colony. It has been reported that these laws would aim to strengthen authorities' control over foreign institutions in Hong Kong by passage of counter-espionage legislation.

Jimmy Lai's trial has been adjouned to January 2.

(With inputs from agencies)