Prosecutors have alleged that Hong Kong activist and publisher Jimmy Lai had encouraged the city’s residents to protest and urged the U.S. to take action against the Chinese authorities in Beijing.

HONG KONG (AP) — Prosecutors on Wednesday alleged that Hong Kong activist and publisher Jimmy Lai had encouraged the city’s residents to protest and urged the U.S. to take action against the Chinese authorities in Beijing.

The 76-year-old media tycoon, who founded the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was arrested in 2020 during a crackdown on massive pro-democracy protests that rocked Hong Kong in 2019. The central government in Beijing responded by imposing a sweeping national security law aimed at stamping down opposition. Lai has been in jail for over three years.

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    The 76-year-old media tycoon, who founded the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was arrested in 2020 during a crackdown on massive pro-democracy protests that rocked Hong Kong in 2019.

    Prosecutor Anthony Chau on the fifth day of the trial presented what he said were Lai’s instructions to senior management and editors at Apple Daily to come up with ways to urge the Hong Kong public to protest a proposed extradition bill in 2019.

    The bill, which was later withdrawn following protests, could have allowed suspects to be extradited from Hong Kong to mainland China, where Communist Party-dominated courts are accused of handing down convictions based on political considerations and using coerced confessions.

    Prosecutors submitted 31 pieces of allegedly seditious content published on Apple Daily, including articles and commentaries as well as pages urging people to protest.

    Lai had allegedly also given instructions to Apple Daily to introduce English content for the purpose of asking foreign countries to engage in sanctions against China and Hong Kong, the prosecution said.

    WhatsApp messages purportedly showing that Lai had instructed editors to only concentrate on the “yellow” viewpoint — the color of the pro-democracy camp and the “voice that the world wants to know” — were also shown to the court.

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