Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai has so far this year been arrested four times, with six outstanding court cases overshadowing him as Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing government continues to cast the net wide over pro-democracy activists in the city.

He is set to stay behind bars until April, when the latest case, which accuses the man of fraud, returns to court. A former pro-democracy lawmaker said that local authorities were increasingly inclined to prevent bail for activists, exposing a legal system which was moving away from its traditional norm of “presumption of innocence,” as entrenched in common law.

The lawmaker, Lam Cheuk-ting, said Lai had not run afoul of any bail orders relating to his cases, and yet the court had decided to keep him in detention because he was deemed a flight risk. “It’s putting someone in jail without a conviction,” Lam said.

He added that under Hong Kong’s sweeping national security laws, which came into effect in the summer, local judges were required to deny bail to suspects unless they could prove the apprehended would not continue to pose a threat to national security. This had fundamentally changed a local legal system that assumed the suspect was innocent. The law could now be used purely for “political persecution,” he said.

Among those denied bail, Tong Ying-kit, 23, has been kept behind bars after becoming the first person charged under the new anti-sedition laws, for allegedly ramming a motorcycle into three police officers while displaying a protest flag in July.

A student spent 72 days in custody this year before his charges for possessing a slingshot and metal ball bearings were dropped.

Another political activist Tam Tak-chi, better known as “Fast Beat,” has been denied bail several times after being charged with sedition. The 48-year-old allegedly made seditious remarks against the police during several protests this year.

Apart from the fraud charge, Lai also faces prosecution for his involvement in multiple pro-democracy protests last year and “collusion with foreign governments.”

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