Hong Kong prosecutors allege activist Jimmy Lai encouraged democracy protests

Hong Kong democracy activist and publisher Jimmy Lai’s national security trial at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts is being closely watched by foreign governments, business professionals and legal scholars (Billy HC Kwok/AP)

Prosecutors in Hong Kong alleged on Wednesday that activist and publisher Jimmy Lai had encouraged the city’s residents to protest and urged the US to take action against the “oppressive” Chinese authorities in Beijing.

The 76-year-old media tycoon, who founded the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was arrested in 2020 during a crackdown on massive pro-democracy protests that rocked Hong Kong in 2019.