The Hong Kong court considered this Monday, December 15th, Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, the former pro-democracy media tycoon, guilty of violating the national security law of the Chinese region.
Jimmy Lai was considered guilty of collusion with foreign entities under the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020 and revised in 2024, in response to the sometimes violent anti-government protests of 2019.
The founder of the currently banned pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper He was also convicted of “seditious publications” relating to 161 articles, including editorials signed with his name.
The High Court of Hong Kong scheduled a hearing for January 12, lasting a maximum of four days, where the defense of Lai, 78, will be able to present any mitigating factors, before the sentence is known.
The three crimes of which the British citizen was found guilty could carry a sentence of life in prison.
Lai was tried by three judges, including Portuguese descendant Susana D’Almada Remedios, chosen by the Government to deal with cases linked to the national security law imposed in 2020 by Beijing, to put an end to dissent in Hong Kong.
“We have no doubt that [Lai] never deviated from its intention to destabilize the Government”, said judge Esther Toh, when reading part of the decision, the complete document of which is 855 pages long.
The judge said that the evidence shows that, even before the approval of the national security law, the tycoon had already made “constant invitations” to the United States to help overthrow the Chinese authorities, not just in Hong Kong.
The court found that Lai was the mastermind of a conspiracy that sought the downfall of the Chinese Communist Party, even if it meant sacrificing the people of China and Hong Kong, Toh added.
During the trial, which began in December 2023, Lai pleaded not guilty and stated that he had never advocated separatism or violent resistance. He also denied calling for Western sanctions against China and Hong Kong.
“Apple Daily’s core values are actually the core values of the Hong Kong people (…) [incluindo] the rule of law, freedom, the pursuit of democracy, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly”, he argued.
Lai’s children expressed concern about their father’s failing health during a meeting with journalists in Washington in early December. Diabetic, Lai has been held in solitary confinement without air conditioning in a prison where summer temperatures reach 44°C, his children said.
According to Hong Kong authorities, Lai is receiving “adequate and comprehensive” care in prison.
The Hong Kong Government also condemned what it classified as Lai’s “distortion” of the story through the international press.