Jimmy Lai says he once held out hope in Hong Kong’s prospects under the security law

Former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has conceded he was “too optimistic” to have once believed in Hong Kong’s future as a financial hub under the national security law, while dismissing “presumptuous” allegations that he foresaw his arrest would trigger foreign intervention.

Lai, 77, also said he did not believe the central and local authorities would spare him from prosecution despite promises that the Beijing-imposed legislation would not be applied retroactively to penalise past offensive conduct, including his calls for Western sanctions.

Defence lawyers on Thursday closed the chapter of their examination of Lai’s responses to the national security law before its enactment by Beijing on June 30 of 2020, as he gave evidence at West Kowloon Court for the 11th day in his high-profile trial.

The founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid has denied two conspiracy charges of collusion with foreign forces under the national security law, as well as a third count of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publications in breach of colonial-era legislation.

The court’s attention was drawn to a series of text exchanges between Lai and ex-publisher Cheung Kim-hung, who previously turned prosecution witness after pleading guilty to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces in 2022.

The former media owner appeared nonchalant to suggestions that the new law would not have any retrospective effect.

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Гонконг Политика