Jimmy Lai trial: timeline of Hong Kong media mogul’s arrests, charges and court appearances
- Lai went on trial on Monday on charges of sedition and conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and inciting public hatred
- The Post tracks Apple Daily founder’s litany of legal troubles over past three years
Lai, 76, is facing charges of sedition and conspiracy to collude with foreign forces for allegedly calling for international sanctions against Hong Kong and central authorities, and inciting public hatred in the wake of anti-government protests in 2019, sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill.
Here, the Post tracks the development of this and other security and fraud cases that involved Lai over the last three years.
2020
February 28: Lai is arrested for his role in an unauthorised protest on August 31, 2019.
April 18: He is arrested for his involvement in two illegal rallies on August 18 and October 1, 2019.
May 5: Lai is charged over two unrelated cases – unauthorised assembly during the protest on August 31, 2019, and criminal intimidation of a reporter from a rival newspaper in June 2017.
May 18: He is charged for his roles in the unauthorised protests on August 18 and October 1 of 2019.
06:28
Hong Kong tabloid Apple Daily ceases operations after top executives arrested, assets frozen
July 12: Lai is charged with inciting others to take part in a banned gathering on June 4, 2020, to mark the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing.
August 10: Lai, his two sons and Apple Daily senior executives are arrested by national security police for alleged collusion with foreign forces.
September 3: Lai is cleared after the trial of criminal intimidation of a reporter from a rival newspaper in June 2017.
December 3: He is remanded in custody after being charged with fraud in connection with alleged improper use of Apple Daily’s office space.
December 12: He is charged with collusion with foreign forces under the national security law.
Stage set for Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai’s national security trial
December 23: A High Court judge grants Lai HK$10 million (US$1.28 million) bail and places him under house arrest.
December 29: Apple Daily publisher Next Digital issues a statement confirming that Lai has resigned as group chairman.
December 31: Lai is back in custody after the Court of Final Appeal revokes his bail ahead of its determination on the legal principles for granting bail under the national security law.
2021
February 9: The apex court finds that the HK$10 million bail granted to him is based on a wrong understanding of security legislation.
February 16: Lai is arrested in Stanley Prison on suspicion of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and conspiracy to assist an offender in escaping prosecution.
February 18: A different High Court judge denies bail to Lai after finding he might commit further national security offences.
April 16: Lai is sentenced to 14 months’ jail after trial for his role in two unauthorised assemblies in August 2019.
April 16: He faces an additional charge of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and another of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in his national security case.
Chinese embassy condemns UK’s ‘flagrant interference’ in Hong Kong affairs
May 14: The security minister orders that Lai’s assets worth nearly HK$500 million be frozen, marking the first such use of new powers granted under the national security law.
May 28: Lai’s jail term is increased to 20 months after he pleads guilty to organising an illegal rally on October 1, 2019.
June 24: Apple Daily closes after police arrest its senior executives and freeze HK$18 million worth of assets.
August 19: Two core members of an anti-China campaign allegedly funded by Lai plead guilty to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces.
01:38
Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai and 7 others sentenced over banned Tiananmen Square vigil
December 13: Lai is jailed for 13 months after trial for inciting a banned gathering on June 4, 2020, to mark the Tiananmen Square crackdown, with the term to be served concurrently with his earlier 20-month sentence.
December 15: The High Court orders the winding up of Apple Daily’s publisher Next Digital following a government petition.
December 28: Lai is slapped with an extra charge of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publications in his national security case, while a charge of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice is replaced by another conspiracy count of collusion with foreign forces.
Jimmy Lai trial will show how ‘bad’ his actions were: Hong Kong security chief
2022
August 22: Six Apple Daily senior executives plead guilty to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces.
October 19: The High Court grants Lai’s request to be represented by British King’s Counsel Timothy Owen in his national security trial.
November 28: The Court of Final Appeal upholds Owen’s participation in Lai’s trial, prompting Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu to ask Beijing to interpret the national security law.
December 1: Lai’s trial is adjourned for two weeks pending Beijing’s clarification of the national security law.
December 10: Lai receives 69 months in jail after trial over the improper use of Apple Daily’s office space.
December 13: Lai’s trial is adjourned again to September 2023.
December 30: The National People’s Congress Standing Committee says city leader Lee and the national security committee he chaired should decide whether British lawyer Owen can represent Lai.
02:45
Jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai found guilty of fraud in office lease case
2023
January 11: The national security committee chaired by Lee rules that Owen’s involvement poses a national security risk.
May 19: Lai loses a judicial review against the committee’s ban on Owen’s participation.
May 29: The High Court refuses Lai’s request to terminate his national security case.
August 14: Lai and six other opposition figures win an appeal against one of two charges they were found guilty of, relating to their roles in an illegal procession on August 18, 2019.
August 18: Lai’s collusion case is adjourned for a third time to December 18 so that one of three presiding judges can wrap up a separate set of national security proceedings.
