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Jimmy Lai national security trial hears Hong Kong tycoon recruited prominent political figures to drum up support for Apple Daily newspaper
- Prosecution tells court tabloid recruited prominent political figures in bid to boost its subscription service, including veteran democrat Martin Lee
- Judge hears Lee appealed to readers to support tabloid and Lai ‘until the end’ and said Chinese Communist Party did not want a free press
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Hong Kong prosecutors have accused the now-closed Apple Daily newspaper of using well-known political figures to promote its subscription service and highlighted the role of veteran democrat Martin Lee Chu-ming, who appealed to readers to support the tabloid and its founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying “until the end”.
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Lee drummed up support for Apple Daily in a passage submitted to West Kowloon Court on Monday by publicising what he saw as attacks by the Chinese Communist Party and former city leader Leung Chun-ying, who had put pressure on companies that advertised with the opposition-leaning newspaper.
“So everyone knows that this authoritarian country, that is the Communist Party, now doesn’t want a free press because [the press] is to them just a national apparatus,” Lee said in a May 2020 video.
The 85-year-old founder of the Democratic Party praised Lai for his dedication to safeguarding the “independent” newspaper, even though Apple Daily had been running at a loss for years.
“So you have no reason not to support him, that is, in such a difficult time, there is still one foolish guy spending so much money to continue to do this at a loss, for what? It is not for himself, is it?” Lee said.
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