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International lobby group backed by Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai pressured US and UN to take action against mainland China and city, court told
- Lai trial told ‘Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong’ lobby group asked US and UN to take action against mainland China and city
- Witness says group tried to convince UN to set up panel to examine alleged human rights violations during 2019 anti-government protests
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An international lobbying group alleged to have been backed by Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying pressured the US and the United Nations’ top human rights body into taking action to counter what was said to be mainland China’s encroachment on the city’s freedoms, a court has heard.
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Andy Li Yu-hin, a detained activist, on Wednesday told West Kowloon Court the “Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong” (SWHK) group had tried to convince the United Nations to set up an independent panel to examine alleged human rights violations in Hong Kong during the city’s anti-government protests in 2019.
The court heard Li had also met US Senator Rick Scott in September that year because he wanted to trigger an American reaction to the Hong Kong government’s crackdown on the unrest.
The programmer turned activist said the meeting was arranged by Lai’s right-hand man and former US naval intelligence operative Mark Simon, who arranged for Li and another front-line protester to meet Scott and a US consulate staff member in Mid-Levels.
But he added no concrete ideas on what Washington should do in relation to Hong Kong were proposed at the meeting.
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