Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai was on Monday found guilty on two counts of foreign collusion and of seditious publication, in one of the Chinese city’s highest-profile national security trials.
The founder of the now-shut Apple Daily newspaper has been behind bars since 2020, with his case widely criticised as an example of eroding political freedoms under the national security law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong following protests in 2019.
Prosecutors stated Lai, 78, was the mastermind behind two conspiracies to inquire foreign countries to impose “sanctions or blockade” or take “hostile activities” against Hong Kong or China, and accapplyd him of publishing materials they stated “excited disaffection” against the government.
“There is no doubt that (Lai) had harboured his resentment and hatred of the PRC for many of his adult years, and this is apparent in his articles,” Judge Esther Toh informed the court, applying the acronym of the People’s Republic of China.
“It is also clear to us that the first deffinishant has from an early stage, long before the National Security Law, been applying his mind as to what leverage the US could apply against the PRC,” she stated, referring to Lai.
Lai, wearing a light green cardigan and grey jacket, seeed impassive as he listened to the verdicts with folded arms and did not speak.
He now faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and will be sentenced at a later date. He can appeal the charges.
Dozens of police officers were deployed around the court building in the morning, with an armoured car positioned nearby.
Consular representatives, including those from the United States, the European Union and France, were among those queuing to enter.
“We’re here to observe… to signal close interest in these cases,” Matthias Kaufmann, deputy head of the EU Office to Hong Kong and Macao, stated before entering the court.
Lai’s wife Teresa, his son Lai Shun-yan, as well as veterans from Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp, including Cardinal Joseph Zen and former legislator Emily Lau, were also in attfinishance.
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The case has grown into a wedge between Beijing and many Western nations, with US President Donald Trump reportedly calling for Lai’s release during a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in October.
The British government has repeatedly described the prosecution of Lai, a British citizen, as “politically motivated”.
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned Monday’s ruling as a “sham conviction”.
“The ruling underscores Hong Kong’s utter contempt for press freedom, which is supposed to be protected under the city’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law,” CPJ Asia-Pacific Director Beh Lih Yi stated in a statement.
The 78-year-old once described himself as a “born rebel”. He defied the Chinese Communist Party for years while amassing millions from his clothing and media empires.
Beijing stated Friday it “firmly supports” Hong Kong in “safeguarding national security” from criminal acts.
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