The Hong Kong High Court on Thursday once more denied bail to outstanding democracy advocate and newspaper writer Jimmy Lai.
Lai has been charged underneath a controversial nationwide safety regulation for “colluding with foreign forces.”
He was detained and charged in December, and was initially granted bail on situation of home arrest, however was shortly thrown again into jail after prosecutors efficiently overturned the ruling.
The excessive courtroom Thursday upheld a ruling handed down final week from the Court of Final Appeal (CFA), which mentioned the preliminary bail granted by a decrease courtroom had utilized an “erroneous line of reasoning.”
Under the brand new Beijing-imposed regulation, the onus is on the defendant to show they’d not pose a risk to nationwide safety if launched on bail. This differs from Hong Kong’s widespread law-based system, which requires the prosecution to show flight danger.
The courtroom mentioned it would announce its reasoning for rejecting Lai’s software at a later date.
Why was Lai arrested?
Lai was initially arrested in August when some 200 law enforcement officials raided the newsroom of his Apple Daily tabloid newspaper.
Prosecutors accuse him of breaching the safety regulation over statements he made on July 30 and August 18. They allege that he requested international interference in Hong Kong’s affairs.
Lai is one in all a number of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists being charged underneath a nationwide safety regulation handed by Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing management in June 2020, which critics say erodes civil liberties Hong Kong has loved as a semi-autonomous territory.
The regulation punishes “subversion, secession, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces” with as much as life in jail. Lai is because of face trial in April.
However, the regulation has been thought-about by critics as a instrument for Beijing to crackdown on opposition to its rule that exploded following months-long pro-democracy protests in 2019.
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