Hong Kong, expatriation ban for Jimmy Lai

The pro-democratic tycoon is accused of threatening a person during the 2017 Tiananmen vigil. Yesterday, the police charged Lai and three other Democrats for organizing this year’s commemoration. Beijing demonizes those who denounce the massacre of June 4, 1989, and praises the leaders who ordered it.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - Publishing tycoon Jimmy Lai cannot leave the city. A local court today confirmed the ban on his expatriation. The 72-year-old founder of the pro-democratic paper Apple Daily is accused of threatening a person three years ago during the annual Victoria Park vigil in memory of the victims of the Tiananmen massacre of June 4, 1989. Thousands of Chinese students were massacred that day. for asking for freedom and democracy.

Lai will now face trial in August. The ban on travelling abroad was imposed in early May, after he had been released on bail.

Yesterday Lai and three other members of the pro-democracy movement were indicted by the police for inciting the population to take part in this year's vigil, which was not authorized. In a climate of great tension, due in particular to Beijing's decision to impose a national security law in Hong Kong, tens of thousands of people challenged the government's ban and gathered to commemorate the Tiananmen massacre.

The Hong Kong businessman is also on trial for participating in a series of protest marches against the extradition law in August and October 2019. Together with him, 14 other members of the democratic front face charges in connection with these large gatherings.

According to several observers, Beijing is determined to erase the democratic freedoms of the Hong Kong population; judicial actions against Lai and other democratic exponents are part of this plan to demonize those who denounce the massacre of Chinese students in 1989, and to exalt the leaders who ordered it as "modernizers".