Lai, whose newspaper Apple daily was raided by police this year, is denied bail until April amid accusations of improper use of his office space<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong<\/a> media tycoon and pro-democracy activist whose Apple Daily newspaper was raided by police earlier this year, has been denied bail after being charged with fraud. Lai \u2013 the owner of Hong Kong<\/a>tabloid and founder of Next Digital Media \u2013 will be held on remand until his next court date in April next year.<\/p>\n Lai has been one of the loudest pro-democracy voices in Hong Kong, amid a worsening crackdown on dissent. On Wednesday Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, and Ivan Lam were jailed for their activism.<\/p>\n Lai and two Next Digital Media executives were charged on Wednesday night when making a regular reporting appearance to police over their previous arrests under the national security law. The executives, chief operating officer Royston Chow Tat-kuen, and chief administrative officer Wong Wai-keung, were released on bail on Thursday.<\/p>\n The trio are accused of breaching land-lease terms by misusing Next Digital\u2019s office space in Tseung Kwan O for other purposes.<\/p>\n Lai was among more than 10 people arrested<\/a> on one day in August, under suspicion of breaching the national security law imposed by Beijing in June. Apple Daily\u2019s newsroom was also raided by hundreds of police. Lai was suspected of collusion with foreign forces and conspiracy to commit fraud, but police have not laid charges of foreign collusion.<\/p>\n Speaking after the arrest<\/a>, Lai said the accusations were \u201ctrumped up\u201d but he couldn\u2019t go into details because legal proceedings were underway.<\/p>\n At least 31 people have been arrested under the national security law, which has been internationally condemned as overly broad and undefined, criminalising benign acts of protest. Hong Kong authorities have been accused of using the national security and other laws to crackdown on dissent and free speech. In an editorial on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal said the charge against Lai was China<\/a> sending a clear message that it would crush any opposition, and that \u201cany charges will do\u201d.<\/p>\n More than 10,000 people have also been arrested under other laws, over acts related to the mass protests.<\/p>\n Some have fled. Activist Nathan Law left Hong Kong for the UK, and Andy Li, who was also arrested under the national security law, is among those detained on the mainland after being caught trying to escape to Taiwan by boat. On Wednesday, Hong Kong media reported that pro-democracy former legislator Ted Hui and his family had moved to Denmark. Hui was arrested in August<\/a> over his involvement in a 2019 protest.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/3ecb83714066cd23d4082fca9fb5696fbf26800b\/0_181_5266_3161\/master\/5266.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=daec4a2b0e117ed9e5ab865a25b6e241\")
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