Mr Lai, 76, a British and Hong Kong citizen and a founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, is considered one of the most high-profile prisoners under a national security law imposed by China in June 2020. He is testifying in the same week a Hong Kong court sentenced 45 leading democracy activists to jail terms of up to 10 years under the same law.
Under questioning, Mr Lai was asked about three articles, including one he wrote in 2019 in which he warned that if an extradition law was passed, another “June 4th massacre” could happen in Hong Kong – referring to the killings by Chinese soldiers of demonstrators in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989.
The media mogul told the court he had feared Hong Kong’s rule of law would be compromised if a proposed law allowing extraditions to mainland China were enacted, and so called on people to come out and protest.
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