The media mogul told the court he wanted the people of Hong Kong to be more informed about freedom. It is Lai's first testimony in the trial against him for alleged violations of Hong Kong's controversial security law.

Former publisher Jimmy Lai has taken the stand in his trial under Hong Kong’s national security law, breaking a four-year silence with an affirmation of the city’s right to freedom, democracy and the rule of law. But he denied using his Apple Daily newspaper or overseas connections to influence other countries’ policies towards Hong Kong or China.

Jimmy Lai, the billionaire Hong Kong media tycoon, has taken the stand in his own defence in a high-stakes national security trial that could see him jailed for life.

Pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai told a Hong Kong court that he entered the media business after the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, in a bid to "participate in delivering freedom." "The more you are in the know,

The 76-year-old has been in prison for almost four years and faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life there.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer raised the case of Jimmy Lai with China's President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 on Monday.

Jimmy Lai has told a court in Hong Kong that he hoped Donald Trump would stop the National Security Law being imposed by Beijing in 2020.

The sentencing of 47 pro-democracy activists and the trial of medial mogul Jimmy Lai show how Hong Kong’s courts are a tool for repression, legal analysts say.

By James Pomfret and Jessie Pang HONG KONG (Reuters) -Hong Kong democrat Jimmy Lai testified on Wednesday for the first time in his landmark national security trial, saying he had never tried to influence the foreign policy of countries such as the United States,

Jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai insisted his newspaper had championed democracy and "freedom" as he took the witness stand Wednesday for the first time in his trail for collusion with foreign forces.