Apple Daily publisher testifies against former owner Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong trial

Prosecution witness says Lai ‘pursued democracy, freedom and was anti-totalitarian’

A former Apple Daily publisher said media mogul Jimmy Lai instructed the editorial staff to use the newspaper to encourage people to join protests in Hong Kong and draw the attention of Western nations.

Cheung Kim-hung, former chief executive of Apply Daily who worked for Mr Lai for more than 30 years, testified as the first prosecution witness on the 11th day of the landmark national security trial.

Mr Lai, a 76-year-old UK citizen, is facing the prospect of life in prison if found guilty of the charges brought against him under the draconian national security laws. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges of sedition and collusion.

Mr Cheung is one of the six former Apple Daily staff to plead guilty in November 2022 to conspiracy to commit collusion with a foreign country.

Dressed in a brown leather aviator jacket and white-collared shirt, Mr Lai listened to the questioning as Mr Cheung described him as the "ultimate decision maker” and “top leader” of the media house.

Mr Cheung on Wednesday alleged that the media mogul held the view that in the wake of the 2019 pro-democracy movement it was important to get the attention of Western democracies for imposing sanctions on Hong Kong.

He said Mr Lai believed a proposed law that would allow people in Hong Kong to be sent to China to face trial in courts controlled by the Chinese Communist Party would be used to crackdown on the territory's democracy and freedoms.

The bill was later withdrawn by the government. But mass demonstrations over the bill evolved into pro-democracy protests that rocked the city for months.

Mr Lai said "the business community was very much concerned" and "if the law was enacted, media would not survive", according to the witness.

Mr Cheung added that Mr Lai instructed him to "use Apple Daily to call people to take to the streets, to demonstrate, and to pressure the government".

He told the court that the image of Mr Lai "was all along very clear, who pursued democracy, freedom and was anti-totalitarian".

Mr Lai had a view of "getting the attention of Western democratic countries, hoping that they could provide assistance, and even take stronger actions, including imposing sanctions", the witness said.

Mr Cheung said he joined Apple Daily's sister publication, Next Magazine, in 1991 before moving up the ranks and consolidating the media outlet's expansion to Taiwan.

He rejoined the company at Mr Lai's invitation in 2010 and became editor-in-chief. Six years later he was promoted to publisher and in 2018 appointed the chief executive of Next Digital.

Other prosecution witnesses include Apple Daily's former associate publisher Chan Pui-man, former editorial writer Yeung Ching-kee, activist Andy Li and paralegal Chan Tsz-wah. They have all pleaded guilty and will be sentenced at the end of the trial.

The proceedings are expected to last 80 days and have been condemned by both the UK and the US as an "attempt to stop the peaceful exercise of [Mr Lai’s] rights to freedom of expression and association".