Hong Kong court finds tycoon Jimmy Lai guilty in national security trial
The 78-year-old, who has already spent five years in jail pending the outcome of his case, will be sentenced at a later date
[HONG KONG] Hong Kong’s High Court on Monday (Dec 15) found pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai guilty on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of sedition under a China-imposed national security law that could see him jailed for life.
The case has drawn international scrutiny of Hong Kong’s judicial independence amid a years-long crackdown on rights and freedoms in the global financial hub.
Lai, the founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper and one of the most prominent critics of China’s Communist Party leadership, has faced a slew of litigation, including cases under the sweeping security legislation that Beijing enacted in response to mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.
The 78-year-old, who suffers from health issues including diabetes and high blood pressure, had pleaded not guilty to the charges: one of conspiracy to publish seditious material, and two of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces.
Lai, who has already spent five years in jail pending the outcome of his case, will be sentenced at a later date.
The verdict bookends a year that marked the essential disappearance of Hong Kong’s democratic opposition, with the city’s largest opposition, the Democratic Party, voting to disband on Dec 14 under pressure from Beijing.
Outside the courthouse, people overnight formed a queue more than a block long, some with camping gear, seeking one of the 507 tickets to the courthouse, 58 for Lai’s courtroom and the rest for overflow viewing by video link.
Police were monitoring the area around the courthouse.
Calls to free Lai
Lai’s trial began in December 2023 and is the highest-profile use of Beijing’s sweeping national security law in the former British colony that reverted to Chinese rule in 1997; the verdict looms as a potential fresh diplomatic flashpoint.
Countries including the US and Britain, as well as rights groups, say the trial is politically motivated and have called for Lai’s immediate release. US President Donald Trump raised Lai’s case with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a meeting in October and has said he would do his utmost to “save” Lai.
In a statement before the verdict, media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said Lai “has endured five years in prison under appalling conditions simply for doing his job as a founder of one of the most renowned and independent media outlets in Hong Kong”.
“The trial can only be described as a sham and has nothing to do with the rule of law.”
The Chinese and Hong Kong governments said the tycoon is receiving a fair trial and that the national security law treats all equally. They also noted that no freedoms are absolute when it comes to safeguarding national security.
Lai’s family said his health has worsened after more than 1,800 days in solitary confinement, and that he suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and heart palpitations.
His verdict comes at a delicate moment for Hong Kong, where residents have been mourning after a fire last month killed at least 160 people. The incident was one of the worst blazes in a residential complex globally in recent years.
Chinese national security authorities have warned they would crack down on any “anti-China” individuals who tried to use the fire to “plunge Hong Kong back into the chaos” of 2019, when massive pro-democracy protests triggered a political crisis. REUTERS
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