Jimmy Lai, the founder of Next Digital, was found guilty on all three charges of violating the Hong Kong National Security Law and colluding with foreign forces. The court clearly stated that Jimmy Lai was not on trial for his political views or beliefs, but was based on the law and evidence.
Allan Zeman, Chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Group, pointed out that he had known Lai for 45 years when they were in another business before Lai was in Apple Daily.
"And in essence, when he started Apple Daily, he always harbored resentment against China, even as a young boy. And unfortunately, he started to poison the minds of young people, of people in Hong Kong, just writing terrible things about China and how bad China is, and not even realizing how much China has changed, and really, today is one of the best countries in the world, actually," he said. He further stressed that it pained him to see how young people were led astray, and many were prosecuted for it.
"He then had one of his lieutenants, somebody by the name of Mark Simon, who was his assistant and was American. And unfortunately, he was arranging for Jimmy to go abroad. I remember he met Mike Pence, he met other leaders in the United States, and really calling for the United States to really sanction Hong Kong, China in general, and overthrow the government, overthrow what he called the Communist Party. In essence, this would be illegal in any country," he added.
Related News:
Watch This | Equality before law: All freedoms should operate within legal boundaries
Comment