The media tycoon is the most prominent person to face trial under the law introduced by China in 2020.

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has pleaded not guilty to all charges in his highly anticipated trial under the territory’s national security law, which could see him face life in prison.

Lai, 76, has been in prison since December 2020 and is charged with “conspiring to collude with foreign forces” under the China-imposed security law and “conspiring to publish seditious publications” under a colonial-era sedition law.

His trial was delayed for a year – after the Hong Kong government questioned his choice of lawyer – and called for Beijing’s intervention – and It finally started in December.

The founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper is one of Beijing’s harshest critics and has already been convicted of lesser charges related to the media company’s leadership and his own Participation in a vigil on the occasion of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

“Not guilty,” Lai replied in English as the three charges were read out.

Lai, wearing a white shirt and dark blue jacket, was surrounded by three prison guards in the defendant’s dock.

According to his lawyer, he wore headphones to better understand the proceedings.

Other defendants in the case include three Apple Daily companies acquired by the Hong Kong government, six former executives of the newspaper and two young activists affiliated with an advocacy group called Stand With Hong Kong Fight For Freedom (SWHK).

Beijing enacted the broad national security law in June 2020, saying it was necessary to restore stability after mass protests the previous year that began with popular opposition to a plan for an extradition bill with the mainland.

Amnesty said the law had “decimated” Hong Kong’s freedoms and that many pro-democracy politicians and activists had left the territory.

The United States and the United Kingdom have called for Lai’s immediate release, raising concerns about whether he will receive a fair trial. Lai is also a British citizen.

“This case is about a radical political figure… who conspired with others to incite hatred and opposition to the government of ([Hong Kong] and the central authorities and colluding with foreign or external elements to endanger national security,” senior prosecutor Anthony Chau said in court on Tuesday.

Chau described Lai as “the mastermind” who used his media business “as a platform to pursue his political agenda… and orchestrated a conspiracy with the so-called democracy and freedom advocacy group Stand with Hong Kong Fight for Freedom.”

Prosecutors cited 161 Apple Daily publications between April 2019 and the newspaper’s last day in June 2021 as “examples of inflammatory publications … intended to defile the minds of the impressionable.”

Lai was also accused of giving instructions and financial support to the SWHK to lobby foreign countries for sanctions, including the United States, Britain, Australia, Japan and Portugal.

The trial is heard by three specially selected security law judges and there is no jury.

It is scheduled to last for 80 days until March next year.