Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai funded campaign by opposition group aimed at gaining global support for 2019 protests, court hears during national security trial

World
Updated:
By Douglass
Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai funded campaign by opposition group aimed at gaining global support for 2019 protests, court hears during national security trial
Lai, 76, has denied two conspiracy charges of collusion with foreign forces under the Beijing-decreed national security law, and a third count of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious publications under colonial-era legislation.
Detained activist Andy Li in 2020. Li took the witness stand on Wednesday to testify for the prosecution in Jimmy Lai’s national security trial. Photo: Handout
Prosecutors alleged in their opening remarks that Lai was the mastermind and anonymous financier of the “Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong” group, which had attracted sanctions and trade restrictions from Western countries.

Li said he was involved in discussions on social networking app Telegram about running newspaper advertisements ahead of the 2019 Group of 20 summit in Japan to “raise international awareness” of that year’s “democratic movement” in Hong Kong.

“The group was very supportive of the idea of taking the momentum to the world stage, including those very eye-catching scenes during the protests,” the witness said.

The court heard the activist sourced HK$6.73 million on two crowdfunding platforms using the alias Tony Lo.

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He and other anonymous participants published adverts in 13 countries, including the United States, Britain, Canada, Germany, Japan and South Korea. The ads could also be found on Facebook and Google.
An open letter published in The Washington Post and The New York Times described the author as “among the 2 million Hongkongers that took to the streets” and urged readers to “join our fight in defending our freedoms and autonomy” by lobbying the United States government to take action.
The letter highlighted protesters’ demands, including the implementation of universal suffrage and said the G20 summit would be “a key opportunity for the world to bring our demands to the table”.

Li said a man named “T’, who he later knew was paralegal Wayland Chan Tsz-wah, helped make advance payments to some media outlets as he could not settle some of the bills with donations in time.

Li recalled T saying he could borrow up to HK$5 million from “some uncles”, but the witness did not know who they were.

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The activist said he learned at a later stage some of the payments were settled by LAIS Hotel Properties Limited and another firm named Dico Consultants Limited, both of which were allegedly controlled by Lai.

International wire transfer receipts produced to the court showed LAIS Hotel, registered in Canada, paid £18,000 (US$23,030) and US$85,050 respectively to The Guardian and The Washington Post in June 2019.

Dico settled another sum of €20,000 owed to RCS MediaGroup, a multimedia group based in Milan, Italy. The group owned the Corriere della Sera newspaper, which published the open letter the same month.

Li said T never told him about the source of his financial reserves, but recalled an occasion where T said “the people from above” were “not very comfortable with” the lack of means to ensure they would be repaid.

The activist signed a promissory note in July stating a due amount of HK$1.56 million for T to pacify the “bankers”, the court heard.

He eventually made repayment by depositing the cash into the bank account of Chartwell Holding Limited, a Taiwan firm which prosecutors said was used by Lai to avoid exposing himself.

The trial continues on Thursday.

Source: scmp.com

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