© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, founding father of Apple Day by day, stories to the police station after he was launched on bail following his arrest beneath the nationwide safety legislation in Hong Kong, China December 2, 2020. REUTERS/Lam Yik/ FILE PHOTO
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By Jessie Pang and James Pomfret
HONG KONG (Reuters) – A landmark Hong Kong nationwide safety trial towards the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple (NASDAQ:) Day by day and its founder, Jimmy Lai, begins this month.
If convicted, Lai, 76, faces attainable life imprisonment on costs he colluded with overseas forces, together with the USA.
Following is a timeline of Lai’s authorized battles.
June 20, 1995 – Lai publishes the primary version of Apple Day by day.
June 30, 2020 – China straight imposes a nationwide safety legislation (NSL) on Hong Kong. The legislation punishes subversion, secession, terrorism or collusion with overseas forces, with as much as life imprisonment.
Aug 10 – Lai arrested beneath the NSL over alleged “collusion with foreign forces” as 200 police raid his listed firm (Subsequent Digital) headquarters, the place Apple Day by day is produced and printed. He’s launched on bail.
Dec 3 – Lai taken into custody after being denied bail and charged with fraud associated to the lease of Subsequent Digital’s headquarters.
Dec 11 – Lai is charged beneath the NSL with suspicion of colluding with overseas forces.
Dec 23 – Lai is granted bail and capable of spend Christmas at dwelling.
Dec 29 – Lai resigns as chairman of Subsequent Digital.
Dec 31 – Hong Kong’s Court docket of Ultimate Attraction orders Lai again into custody, saying the decide erred in granting him bail.
April 12, 2021 – “Defending freedom of speech is a dangerous job. It is our responsibility as journalists to seek justice,” Lai writes from jail.
April 16 – Lai is jailed for 14 months for collaborating in an unauthorised meeting throughout a protest in August 2019.
Might 14 – Lai’s listed firm faces mounting pressures, together with a freeze on belongings resulting in its final shutdown. It’s the first time a listed agency has been focused by nationwide safety legal guidelines within the monetary hub.
Might 28 – Lai is jailed for a second 14-month jail sentence for collaborating in an unauthorised meeting on Oct. 1, 2019.
June 17 – Police arrest 5 executives of Apple Day by day, together with chief editor Ryan Legislation and former editor Chan Pui-man, as 500 law enforcement officials raid and search its newsroom, seizing computer systems.
June 20 – Apple Day by day marks its twenty sixth anniversary. The paper says it has money left for “a few weeks” of regular operations.
June 24 – Apple Day by day prints 1 million copies of its final version.
Sep 29 – Hong Kong’s Monetary Secretary Paul Chan presents a petition to the Court docket of First Occasion to wind up Subsequent Digital Ltd (0282.HK).
Dec 13 – Lai is sentenced to 13 months for collaborating in a banned vigil for victims of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Sq. crackdown.
July 30, 2022 – Secretary of Justice Paul Lam orders a no-jury trial, citing “involvement of foreign factors” and a “real risk that the due administration of justice might be impaired”.
Nov 22 – Six former Apple Day by day employees pleaded responsible to conspiracy to commit collusion with overseas forces.
Nov 28 – Hong Kong chief John Lee asks Beijing to rule on its bid to dam overseas legal professionals from engaged on nationwide safety instances, after the highest court docket guidelines that British lawyer Tim Owen may signify Lai.
Dec 10 – Lai is sentenced to five years and 9 months for fraud linked to a lease violation.
Dec 13 – Hong Kong’s Excessive Court docket postpones the safety trial towards Lai to late September, awaiting a choice from Beijing on whether or not Owen may defend him.
Dec 30 – China’s high lawmaking physique, the Nationwide Folks’s Congress Standing Committee, provides Hong Kong chief John Lee the facility to bar legal professionals with out the best to follow in Hong Kong from nationwide safety instances. The transfer successfully bars Owen from defending Lai.
Might 19, 2023 – Hong Kong’s Excessive Court docket dismisses an try by Lai to problem this ruling.
Might 29 – Hong Kong’s Excessive Court docket rejects an utility to terminate the safety trial towards Lai.
June 19 – Hong Kong’s Court docket of Attraction blocks Lai’s bid to problem a warrant obtained by nationwide safety police to scrutinise the contents of his cell phones.
Dec 18 – Lai’s NSL trial to open for an anticipated 80 days.
