
A Hong Kong court on Friday dismissed a jailed pro-democracy publisher ’s legal bid in his fight to use a British lawyer in his landmark national security trial.
Jimmy Lai, the 75-year-old founder of the now-defunct newspaper Apple Daily, faces up to life in prison if convicted under a National Security Law imposed by Beijing on the former British colony. In November, the city’s top court approved Lai hiring veteran lawyer Timothy Owen for the case. But the government voiced objection soon after and asked Beijing to step in.