Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai will on Monday appear in court for a long-awaited trial that is emblematic of Beijing’s efforts to silence critics after the pro-democracy protests of 2019.
Lai, the 76-year-old former publisher of the once-popular but now closed newspaper Apple Daily, has been imprisoned for more than three years. His trial will be held under the sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed in 2020 and effectively criminalizes dissent in the city.
China has used the threat of punishment under the draconian law to further cement its grip on Hong Kong, including by muzzling media outlets over vaguely defined crimes such as “inciting subversion” and “collusion.”
So far, every person tried under the new law has been convicted. Even among his most fervent supporters, there is little hope that Lai’s case will be any different. He could spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Here’s what to know about the highly anticipated trial.