Hong Kong court rejects activist publisher Jimmy Lai's bid to throw out sedition charge

A Hong Kong court has rejected a bid by prominent activist publisher Jimmy Lai to throw out a sedition charge laid against him

HONG KONG -- A Hong Kong court on Friday rejected a bid by prominent activist publisher Jimmy Lai to throw out a sedition charge against him, delivering the ruling on the third day of his landmark national security trial.

Lai, 76, was arrested during the city's crackdown on dissidents following huge pro-democracy protests in 2019.

He faces possible life imprisonment if convicted under a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing. He is charged with colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring with others to publish seditious publications.

Foreign governments, business professionals and legal scholars are closely watching the case, which is tied to the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily that Lai founded. Many view it as a trial of the city's freedoms and a test for judicial independence in the Asian financial hub.

Hong Kong is a former British colony that returned to China's rule in 1997 under a promise the city retain its Western-style civil liberties for 50 years. That promise has become increasingly threadbare since the introduction of the security law, which has led to the arrests and silencing of many leading pro-democracy activists.