Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai gives an interview in his home in Hong Kong on Sept. 22, 2020. (Kyodo)

Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was remanded in custody following his indictment Saturday for violating the national security law by seeking foreign sanctions on China and Hong Kong.


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Lai, the founder of Next Digital Ltd., which publishes the outspoken Apple Daily newspaper, is the first among 40 people arrested under the sweeping anti-subversion law. He is accused of colluding with foreign forces, a crime punishable by life imprisonment.

Lai allegedly requested that a foreign country, organization or individual, impose sanctions or blockade or engage in other hostile acts against Hong Kong or China between July 1 and Dec. 1 this year, according to the indictment.

No plea was taken.

More than 1,000 messages on Twitter, media interviews and testimonies from overseas witnesses will be presented in court, the prosecutor told a judge designated to handle national security law cases at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts.

The case was adjourned to April 16 and will be handled along with a fraud case against him.

Lai was indicted along with two associates last week on a fraud charge over a land-use violation involving his media office and has been remanded in custody pending the April hearing.

Lai was arrested in August along with his two sons and four associates. Some 200 police officers also raided the daily's headquarters.

In July last year, Lai met with senior U.S. officials such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence in Washington to discuss a controversial bill that would have allowed the extradition of criminal suspects to mainland China.

The bill was later withdrawn amid widespread protests among Hong Kong people that morphed into a monthslong, sometimes violent anti-government movement.

Pompeo tweeted about Lai's indictment Saturday, saying the national security law makes a mockery of justice.

"@JimmyLaiApple's only 'crime' is speaking the truth about the Chinese Communist Party's authoritarianism and fear of freedom," Pompeo said. "Charges should be dropped and he should be released immediately."