Il Messaggiere - Hong Kong political freedoms in spotlight during bumper trial week

On Wednesday, jailed tycoon and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai will testify in his collusion trial, breaking the silence he has kept over five previous trials and almost four years in jail.

He will take the stand the day after the sentencing of 45 pro-democracy politicians and activists for a subversion case triggered by their holding an unofficial election primary.

Both cases could carry sentences of up to life in prison.

Western countries and international rights groups have condemned the two trials as evidence of Hong Kong's increased authoritarianism since Beijing imposed a national security law on the city in 2020.

"These are two cases that epitomize the collapse of human rights in Hong Kong since (then)," Amnesty International's China Director Sarah Brooks told AFP.

"Not only have these prosecutions been draconian; they have also been cruel –- dragged out for several years with no regard for the lives and families shattered along the way."

But China and Hong Kong say the law has restored order after the city was rocked by massive, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019, and have warned against "interference" from other countries.

- Lai in witness box -

The charges against Lai –- founder of the now-shuttered popular Chinese-language tabloid Apple Daily –- revolve around the newspaper's publications, which supported the pro-democracy protests and criticised Beijing's leadership.

The 76-year-old is facing two counts of "conspiracy to collusion" and one count of "conspiracy to publish seditious publications".

He has pleaded not guilty.

Lai has been behind bars for 89 months, with the Apple Daily newsroom and his home among the first targets of major police raids soon after the 2020 national security law came into force.

In September his son said Lai was struggling in solitary confinement inside a 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) cell.

Since the prosecution opened in January, it has sought to mount the case that dozens of Hong Kong and foreign politicians and scholars -- including former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo -- were Lai's foreign contacts and "agents".

Six other Apple Daily executives similarly charged have pleaded guilty, with five of them testifying against Lai.

Lai is also accused of supporting two young activists lobbying for foreign sanctions via a protest group called "Stand With Hong Kong".

Among others, British prime minister Keir Starmer and the United States' president-elect Donald Trump have openly appealed for Lai's release recently.

- Largest trial finale -

Another national security trial, the city's largest by number of defendants, will come to a close the day before Lai steps into the witness box.

Led by Benny Tai, a prominent constitutional and human rights law scholar, the defendants range from former lawmakers, unionists, lawyers, social workers and journalists -- a cross-section of the city's once-vibrant political opposition.

Initially 47 people were charged after holding an unofficial primary election in July 2020, which aimed to shortlist pro-democracy candidates for a better chance of a majority in the legislature.

The group's plan if they won the election was to force the government to meet the 2019 protesters' demands -- including universal suffrage -- by threatening to indiscriminately veto the budget.

The judges ruled the group would have created "a constitutional crisis" had they proceeded.

Two of the original 47 were acquitted.

On Tuesday, three senior judges handpicked by the government to try security cases will sentence the remaining 45 convicted of "conspiracy to subvert the state's power".

T.Abato--IM