HK court grants tycoon Jimmy Lai bail in national security, fraud case

[December 23, 2020]  HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Hong Kong court granted HK$10 million ($1.3 million) bail on Wednesday to media tycoon Jimmy Lai, the highest profile pro-democracy activist charged under the city's new national security law on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces.

An immediate appeal by the prosecution was then denied on the same day.

Lai is one of the financial hub's most ardent critics of Beijing, while his Next Media group is considered one of the key remaining bastions of media freedom. He was arrested in August when about 200 police officers raided the newsroom of his Apple Daily tabloid.

Lai, 73, who had been in custody since Dec. 3, is also charged with fraud related to the lease of a building that houses Apple Daily.

The security law - which punishes what Beijing broadly defines as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in jail - has been condemned by the West and human rights groups as a tool to crush dissent in the semi-autonomous, Chinese-ruled city.

Authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing say the law is necessary to plug gaping holes in national security defences exposed by months of sometimes violent anti-government and anti-China protests that rocked the global financial hub last year.

Under the new law, the onus is on the defendant to prove they would not be a national security threat if released on bail. Under Hong Kong's common law-based legal system, the onus has traditionally been on the prosecution to prove its case.

Media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, founder of Apple Daily arrives at West Kowloon Courts to face charges related to an illegal vigil assembly commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, in Hong Kong, China October 15, 2020. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

Under his bail terms, Lai is not allowed to meet with foreign officials, give any interviews, publish any articles or post on social media, and will have to remain at home and surrender his travel documents.

The tycoon has been a frequent visitor to Washington, meeting with officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to rally support for Hong Kong democracy, prompting Beijing to label him a "traitor".

($1 = 7.7523 Hong Kong dollars)

(Reporting by Katherine Cheng; Writing by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Tom Hogue)

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