New jail sentence for media mogul Jimmy Lai for participating in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong

Hong Kong media magnate Jimmy Lai received a new 14-month prison sentence on Friday for organizing an unauthorized demonstration on October 1, 2019, which coincided with the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic. China. While in Beijing there was a big celebration, with military parades in the center of the city, in Hong Kong there were clashes between protesters and the police.

Lai (73), owner of Apple Daily, Hong Kong's largest pro-democracy daily, has been in jail since December for participating in unauthorized assemblies. He is also being investigated under the national security law for alleged collusion with foreign powers to intervene in the city's affairs.

Earlier this month, authorities froze assets belonging to Lai, including bank accounts and his 71.26% stake in media publisher Next Digital.. As reported by Reuters, Hong Kong's security chief sent letters to Lai and to branches of HSBC and Citibank threatening the bankers with up to seven years in prison for any dealings with the billionaire's accounts in the city.

Like the tycoon, seven other prominent democracy advocates in the city, including 25-year-old activist Figo Chan, as well as former lawmakers Lee Cheuk-yan and Leung Kwok-hung, also received new prison sentences on Friday. up to 18 months.

These rulings come a day after the Hong Kong Parliament, devoid of opposition parties in its seats, approved a bill that modifies local electoral laws, reducing the public's ability to vote, while increasing the number of legislators. pro Beijing who make decisions for the city. On March 11, the National People's Assembly (PNA), China's most important annual political conclave, approved the comprehensive reform of Hong Kong's electoral system.. It only remained to ratify it in the city legislature.

Under new measures that nearly halve the number of directly elected seats in Parliament, anyone running for the Hong Kong legislature must be vetted by a committee.. That body, according to Chinese officials, must guarantee that the city is governed by “patriots”. That excludes all previous lawmakers who participated in the 2019 protests, as well as activists prosecuted under the new national security law.

Tiananmen Vigil Banned

Returning to Friday's rulings, they also come just hours after authorities for a second year banned a June 4 vigil in Victoria Park to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.. For years, Hong Kong and Macau were the only cities in China where people were allowed to commemorate the anniversary of Beijing's famous crackdown on the student movement.

The ban on the vigil, according to official sources, is due to maintaining compliance with the social distancing restrictions of the pandemic, which do not allow large gatherings to be held. But the measure is also part of a context in which Beijing has tightened its control over Hong Kong and is in the midst of a campaign to arrest the activists and parliamentarians who led the protests against the government in 2019.. More than 10,000 people were arrested during the demonstrations, with around 2,500 convicted of various crimes.

On July 1, 2020, the National Security Law, approved by the Chinese Parliament, entered into force, which punishes with life imprisonment crimes such as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, which the regime interprets at its discretion. manner. Since then, everything has gone according to the Beijing script: arrests of activists and newspaper editors; accusations of sedition against those who raised independence flags; censorship of critical books in libraries and schools; reinforcement of “patriotic education” in the classroom…

One of the first consequences of the law was the prohibition of some slogans and hymns that became popular in the protests, as well as any reference to independence, under punishment of secession.. New legislation allows for trials to be held in secret, without a jury, if deemed necessary for security reasons. In addition, the Police will be able to access wiretaps without the approval of a judge.

Around a hundred people, including tycoon Jimmy Lai, have been charged under the new security law.. Lai was first arrested last summer under the legislation for “collusion with foreign forces” and accused of subsidizing activist groups that participated in protests two years ago in the city.. The businessman was released on bail. Four months later, he was arrested again, this time on a fraud charge.. He was also found guilty in two separate trials in early April for unlawful assembly on August 18 and August 31, 2019, respectively.

Lai has British citizenship and an estimated fortune of $1 billion thanks to his investments in the textile industry and, later, the acquisition and founding of several local media outlets in Hong Kong.. In April, he was already sentenced to another 14 months in prison on charges of “organizing and participating” in an “illegal assembly” on August 18, 2019. On that day, there was a large peaceful protest, remembered in the former British colony because it concentrated almost two million people demanding democracy in Hong Kong.

<p