HONG KONG: Hong Kong pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai will take the witness stand for the first time in November in a high-profile national security trial that sees him accused of sedition, a court said today.

The charges against Lai - founder of the now-shuttered popular Chinese-language tabloid Apple Daily - revolve around the newspaper's publications, which supported the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019 and criticised Beijing's leadership.

Besides sedition, the 76-year-old is also accused of two counts of colluding with foreign forces by calling for international sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials.

Lai, who pleaded not guilty to the charges in a trial that started in January, "elects to give evidence in this case", said his lawyer Robert Pang.

His testimony will start in November and could run for weeks, said Esther Toh, one of the three senior judges handpicked by the Hong Kong government to try security cases.

Lai has been in custody for more than 1,300 days.

Following massive pro-democracy protests in 2019, Beijing imposed a sweeping security law to quell dissent - which includes the charge of collusion that carries a life sentence.

The prosecution has so far called eight witnesses and played over 40 hours of Lai's talk shows and video interviews since January to mount a case against him and eight others.

Dozens of Hong Kong and foreign politicians and scholars - including former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo - were named as his foreign contacts and "agents".

But Lai's lawyer argued yesterday that the prosecution failed to prove he had continued to call for sanctions after Beijing criminalised such advocacy with the security law.

Judges today ruled against Lai's defence team, calling on him to answer to all charges.

The other defendants in the case are six former executives of the newspaper and two activists, as well as three Apple Daily companies that have been taken over by the Hong Kong government.

  - AFP