The news comes amid a string of Beijing’s clampdown against high-profile critics as three prominent democracy campaigners, including Joshua Wong, were jailed yesterday.
Lai, 73, is that the owner of Hong Kong’s best-selling Apple Daily, a well-liked tabloid that’s unashamedly pro-democracy and fiercely critical of authorities.
Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been denied bail and remanded into custody on Thursday after being charged with fraud.
Read also: Hong Kong makes first arrests after passing new National Security law
He was handcuffed as he received a custody centreLai and two of his firm’s executives – Royston Chow and Wong Wai-keung – face fraud charges that court documents say are associated with the paper’s offices allegedly getting used for purposes not permitted by the building’s lease.
Police raided Apple Daily’s headquarters in August and arrested a string of senior company figures, including Lai, on suspicion of ‘collusion with foreign forces’ under a vaguely worded new national security law that Beijing imposed on the town.
None has thus far been charged with any national security breaches.But Victor So, the magistrate overseeing Thursday’s hearing, is from a gaggle of judges selected by Hong Kong’s chief executive to undertake such cases.
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