Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai and three related companies of Apple Daily are charged with “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” and other crimes. The case entered its 50th day of trial on Thursday (21st) at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts (acting as the High Court). The fourth co-defendant witness, Andy Li, one of the “12 Hongkongers,” testified on his seventh day, mentioning that around September 2019, after three rounds of crowdfunding for advertisements, he gradually transitioned to international lobbying. He confirmed that in November of the same year, he arranged for British parliamentary representatives to come to Hong Kong to monitor the District Council elections, stating, “because they were concerned about the situation of freedom and democracy in Hong Kong at that time.”
