Hong Kong judges propose a further delay in the trial of activist publisher Jimmy Lai

By KANIS LEUNG
Associated Press

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong judges have proposed a new delay in the trial of a prominent activist publisher who was arrested in August 2020 under a sweeping Beijing-imposed national security law. Jimmy Lai, the 75-year-old founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, faces up to life in prison if convicted under the law. He has already been sentenced to five years and nine months in a separate case. His trial, originally scheduled to begin last December, had already been delayed by judges until September while the Hong Kong government appealed to Beijing to block his attempt to hire a British defense lawyer. His arrest under the security law is part of Beijing’s unprecedented crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy camp.