Hong Kong democrat Jimmy Lai's lawyer defends basic rights in trial's final stretch

[Desmond Milligan 0]

By Jessie Pang and James Pomfret

HONG KONG (Reuters) -The lawyer for Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai argued on Wednesday that supporting individual rights is not a crime in the final stretch of a closely watched and years-long national security trial.

Lai, 77, who founded the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, and a charge of conspiracy to publish seditious material. He faces a maximum life sentence.

The trial is widely seen as a test for judicial independence in the financial hub under national security laws that were imposed by China in 2020 in response to mass pro-democracy demonstrations.

Lai, a longstanding critic of the Chinese Communist Party, is one of the most high-profile figures to face prosecution under the law. His trial has been condemned by some countries like the United States as politically motivated.

Hong Kong and Chinese authorities say Lai is being given a fair trial.

Lai's lawyer Robert Pang, who began his final legal submission on Wednesday, said Lai had been defending and exercising basic rights.

"It is not wrong to support freedom of expression. It is not wrong to support human rights," Pang told the three-judge panel that is expected to deliver a verdict later this year once this current round of final legal submissions is concluded after around one week.

'NOT WRONG NOT TO LOVE THE GOVERNMENT'

"It is not wrong to try to persuade the government to change its policy. Nor is it wrong not to love a particular administration or even the country, because ... you can't force someone to think in one way or another," Pang added.

One of the judges, Esther Toh, said that this was not what the prosecution argued.

"It's not wrong not to love the government, but if you do that by certain nefarious means, then it's wrong," Toh said. Pang also disputed the prosecution's citing of 161 articles published by the Apple Daily between April 1, 2019 and June 4 2021 as seditious, saying they were "insufficient to draw any inference" of a conspiracy.

The prosecution alleges that Lai colluded with overseas officials including those in the first Trump administration to impose sanctions or conduct hostile activities against Chinese and Hong Kong authorities, including trade embargoes.

Earlier on Wednesday, the prosecution wrapped up its final submission, saying there was "overwhelming evidence" to show Lai was the "mastermind" of the alleged conspiracy to collude with foreign forces.

It added that Lai had done nothing to stop illegal activities engaged in by other co-conspirators and through advocacy groups critical of China, such as "Stand With Hong Kong" and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC).

Lai, whose health is fragile according to his family, was provided with a heart monitor and medication after the court was told that he had suffered heart "palpitations".

Over 320 people have been arrested under the national security laws so far, including prominent activist Joshua Wong who is serving a 4-year, 8-month prison term for subversion, and now faces a fresh security charge.

(Reporting by Jessie Pang; editing by Mark Heinrich)

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