“Next Media” founder Jimmy Lai and three related companies of “Apple Daily” have denied colluding with foreign forces and are on trial. The trial entered the fifth day today (January 3). The prosecution continued to read out its opening statement, saying that on the day before the anti-extradition bill demonstration in April 2019, Jimmy Lai invited Benedict Rogers, the founder of “Hong Kong Watch”, to interview former Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten at the request of the pan-democrats to “call on more people to take to the streets.” Apple Daily published the interview on the same day. After the anti-extradition movement broke out, Lai instructed Apple Daily to put out seditious publications to encourage mass demonstrations.
