The media tycoon, who is accused of masterminding pro-democracy protests, testified at his trial for the first time. He could be sent to prison for life.

Jimmy Lai, the pugnacious Hong Kong media tycoon whose now shuttered tabloid Apple Daily was a regular thorn in Beijing’s side, took the stand Wednesday in his own defense for the first time in a high stakes national security trial that could send him to prison for life.

Lai is one of the most influential pro-democracy figures in the city, which has come under an increasingly severe crackdown from Beijing.