A self-made man, an atypical and “born a rebel”, pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai, whose trial for “crimes against national security” began on Monday, is one of Hong Kong's most famous dissidents and a figure despised by Beijing since The 1990s.
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He likes to present himself as a “troublemaker.” A fervent supporter of Hong Kong's democracy movement, British billionaire Jimmy Lai faces a possible life sentence on charges of “collusion with foreign forces”a law imposed by Beijing in 2020, a year after the large pro-democracy demonstrations.
Born in mainland China, he arrived clandestinely in Hong Kong at the age of 12, where he worked in sweatshops before founding in 1981 what would become the international Giordano textile empire.
Jimmy Lai founded his first publication, highly critical of the communist regime, shortly after Chinese tanks were sent to Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989 to quell pro-democracy demonstrations.
Its two main media, the newspaper 'Apple Daily' and the magazine 'Next'exclusively digital, were extremely popular in Hong Kong, mixing sensationalism and hard-hitting political reporting.
They were also part of the few media outlets that openly took sides in the huge pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong in 2019.leading to Jimmy Lai being branded a “traitor” by Chinese state media.
“Hong Kong's oldest political prisoner”
Shortly before his arrest in 2020, the AFP news agency asked him why he did not quietly enjoy his fortune, without making noise, like so many Hong Kong tycoons. To which Jimmy Lai responded: “Maybe I'm a rebel by nature, maybe I'm someone who, in addition to money, needs to give a lot of meaning to his life.”
The tycoon added that Beijing's national security law would be the “death knell for Hong Kong.” Shortly after, he was arrested for the first time in August 2020, during a raid on 'Apple Daily'.
Also in December 2020, a judge granted him bail of HK$10 million (US$1.28 million), but a week later, Hong Kong's highest court ordered him back to prison. where he has been detained ever since, awaiting his trial which began on Monday.
According to his son Sebastian Lai, he is “the oldest political prisoner in Hong Kong.”
A test for Hong Kong Justice
His arrest is linked to the erosion of press freedom and the crackdown on political dissent in Hong Kong. And according to analysts, his trial will test the independence of Hong Kong justice from Beijing.
Jimmy Lai will be tried, without juryby three judges chosen by the leader of Hong Kong from a select group of magistrates.
His imprisonment, since Hong Kong's highest court rejected his release on bail at the end of 2020.
The trial has also experienced multiple delays, as Hong Kong authorities attempted last year to bar Jimmy Lai from being represented by British human rights lawyer Tim Owen, citing security risks.
The United States, the European Union and the United Nations have already expressed their concerns, described as defamation and interference by Beijing.
With AFP
This text was adapted from its original in French.
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