Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai convicted in historic national security trial

Hong Kongg – Jimmy Lai, the former Hong Kong media mogul and outspoken critic of Beijing, was convicted in a landmark national security trial in city court on Monday, which could send him to prison for the rest of his life.

Three judges reviewed by the government found Lai, 78, guilty of conspiring with others to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiring to publish seditious articles. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Lai was arrested in August 2020 under a National security law imposed by Beijing which was implemented following massive anti-government protests in 2019. During his five years in custodyAfter spending much of his time in solitary confinement, Lai has been convicted of several minor crimes and appears to have become more frail and thin.

Lai’s trial, conducted without a jury, has been closely watched by the United States, Britain, the European Union and political observers as a barometer of press freedom and judicial independence in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Reading an 855-page verdict, Judge Esther Toh said Lai had extended a “constant invitation” to the United States to help overthrow the Chinese government under the guise of helping Hong Kongers.

Lai’s lawyers admitted during the trial that he had called for sanctions before the law took effect, but insisted that he abandoned those calls to comply with the law.

But the judges ruled that Lai had never wavered in his intention to destabilize the ruling Chinese Communist Party, “continuing albeit less explicitly.”

Toh said the court was convinced that Lai was the mastermind of the conspiracies and that Lai’s evidence was sometimes contradictory and unreliable. The judges ruled that the only reasonable inference from the evidence was that Lai’s sole intention, both before and after the security law, was to seek the downfall of the ruling Communist Party even at the cost of the sacrifice of the people of China and Hong Kong.

“This was the ultimate goal of secessionist conspiracies and publications,” they wrote.

Among those in attendance were Lai’s wife and son, and Hong Kong Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen. Lai pursed his lips and nodded to his family before being escorted out of the room by guards.

Its verdict is also a test for Beijing’s diplomatic relations. President Trump said he raised the case with China, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his government has made it a priority to secure the release of Lai, a British citizen.

The founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily will be sentenced later.

The collusion charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Hearings were scheduled to begin Jan. 12 for Lai and other defendants in the case to argue for a shorter sentence.

Apple Daily, an outspoken critic of the Hong Kong government and Beijing, was forced to close in 2021 after police raided its newsroom and arrested its senior journalists, and authorities froze its assets.

During Lai’s 156-day trial, prosecutors accused him of conspiring with senior Apple Daily executives and others to solicit foreign forces to impose sanctions or blockades and engage in other hostile activities against Hong Kong or China.

Prosecutors also accused Lai of making such requests, highlighting his meetings with former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in July 2019, at the height of the protests.

He also submitted 161 posts to the court as evidence, including articles from Apple Daily, as well as social media posts and text messages.

Lai testified for 52 days in his own defense, arguing that he had not called for foreign sanctions after the sweeping security law was imposed in June 2020.

His legal team also advocated for freedom of expression.

Lai’s health in the spotlight

As the trial progressed, Lai’s health appeared to deteriorate.

In August, Lai’s lawyers told the court he was suffering from heart palpitations. After the verdict, lawyer Robert Pang said his client is in good spirits as the legal team studies the verdict.

Before the verdict, his daughter Claire told The News that her father had become weak and had lost some nails and teeth. He also said he suffered from infections for months, along with constant back pain, diabetes, heart problems and high blood pressure.

“His spirit is strong but his body is failing,” he said.

The Hong Kong government said no abnormalities were found during a medical examination that followed Lai’s complaint of heart problems. He added this month that the medical services provided were adequate.

Hong Kong leader John Lee said Lai was harming the country’s core interests and called his intentions malicious.

Steve Li, chief superintendent of Hong Kong police’s National Security Department, disputed claims about Lai’s worsening health outside the court building.

“Lai’s conviction is justice,” he told reporters.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said China expressed firm opposition to the defamation of the city’s judiciary by “certain countries,” and urged those countries to respect the city’s legal system.

Before dawn, dozens of residents lined up outside the court building to get a seat in the courtroom.

Tammy Cheung, a former Apple Daily employee, arrived at 5 a.m. and said she wanted to know about Lai’s condition after reports about his health.

She said she felt the process was being rushed as the verdict date was announced last Friday, but added: “I feel relieved that this case can at least be concluded soon.”

Reported verdict

Human rights groups, including Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International, criticized the verdict.

“It is not an individual who has been tried, it is press freedom itself, and with this sentence that has been destroyed,” said the general director of Reporters Without Borders, Thibaut Bruttin.

“The predictability of today’s verdict does not make it any less disheartening: Jimmy Lai’s conviction appears to be the death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong, where the essential work of journalism has been rebranded as a crime,” Amnesty International said, according to the French news agency News. “Lai has been jailed simply because he and his Apple Daily newspaper criticized the government.”

Lai’s son Sebastien told a news conference in London: “It is time to… make my father’s release a precondition for closer relations with China,” News reported.

In 2022, Lai was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison on separate fraud charges related to lease violations, in addition to other cases related to the 2019 protests.