HONG KONG (Reuters) – A Hong Kong court on Friday rejected a bid by the legal team for pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai to have sedition charge against him dropped, in a closely watched national security trial.
Lai, 76, the founder of now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was charged with conspiracy to publish seditious publications under a colonial-era sedition law.
Lai also faces two charges under a China-imposed national security law of conspiring to collude with foreign forces, which could see him jailed for life.
Lai has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
(Reporting by Jessie Pang and Dorothy Kam; Editing by James Pomfret and Christian Schmollinger)
