Former Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai has been found culpable on two national security counts and a lesser sedition charge, in a landmark two-year hearing widely seen as a gauge of the city’s waning freedoms under Beijing’s command.
Self-made billionaire Lai, 78, is one of the most prominent critics of Beijing accused under the broad security statute imposed on the semi-autonomous locale in 2020 following months of massive and occasionally turbulent pro-democracy demonstrations.
Lai established Apple Daily, a staunchly pro-democracy tabloid newspaper renowned for its fierce attacks against the Chinese Communist Party until its mandated shutdown in 2021.
He now faces potential life imprisonment.
In rendering the decision Monday, adjudicators stated there was “no question (Lai) had maintained his bitterness and animosity toward the PRC (People’s Republic of China) for much of his adult existence.”
They cited Lai’s efforts to persuade US lawmakers during President Donald Trump’s initial term as proof of sedition and conspiring with foreign entities, including his talks with then-Vice President Mike Pence, then-State Secretary Mike Pompeo, and attempts to meet Trump personally.
“We are assured (Lai) was the architect in the schemes” detailed in all three allegations, the judges concluded. They added that the proof demonstrated Lai’s “sole purpose … was to bring about the collapse of the (Chinese Communist Party).”
The judges indicated they would disclose the date for his penalty announcement at a later juncture. Collusion carries a penalty of life imprisonment under the security legislation.
The judges had previously instructed everyone present to observe “complete quiet” as their ruling was being read.
Lai seemed composed through it all, acknowledging his spouse and offspring at the opening with a gesture. He offered no reply when the finding was announced but removed his spectacles and dabbed his face before being escorted from the courtroom.
Throughout his trial, government attorneys asserted Lai utilized his Apple Daily publication to advocate for punitive measures against Hong Kong and China during the unrest that shook the financial center in 2019, and after the statute was enacted the subsequent year. Lai denied culpability on all three counts.
He was detained under the national security act in late 2020, and has spent over 1,800 days in a high-security penitentiary, much of that in isolation. In 2022, he received a sentence of five years and nine months incarceration for separate deception charges.
His situation has been closely observed internationally – involving US President Donald Trump, who had formerly pledged to “secure his release.”
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