3 government-vetted judges found Jimmy Lai, 78, guilty of conspiring with others to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiracy to publish seditious articles
AP
Hong Kong, Updated At : 08:53 AM Dec 15, 2025 IST
Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy former Hong Kong media mogul and outspoken critic of Beijing, was convicted in a landmark national security trial in the city’s court on Monday, a verdict that could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life.
Three government-vetted judges found Lai, 78, guilty of conspiring with others to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security and of conspiracy to publish seditious articles. Lai pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Lai was arrested in August 2020 under a Beijing-imposed national security law implemented after massive anti-government protests in 2019. During his five years in custody, he has been convicted of several lesser offences and has appeared frailer and thinner.
Among those in court were Lai’s wife and son, and Hong Kong’s Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen. Lai pressed his lips and nodded to his family before being escorted out of the courtroom by guards.
The trial, held without a jury, has been closely watched by the US, Britain, the European Union and other observers as a measure of media freedom and judicial independence in the former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
The verdict also carries diplomatic implications. US President Donald Trump said he has raised the case with China, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said his government has prioritized securing the release of Lai, who holds British citizenship.
Lai, founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was convicted on two counts of conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security and one count of conspiracy to distribute seditious publications.
Under Hong Kong’s national security law, the collusion charge can carry a sentence ranging from three years to life, depending on the nature of the offence and the defendant’s role. The sedition charge carries a maximum penalty of two years. A four-day mitigation hearing is scheduled to begin on January 12 for Lai to argue for a reduced sentence.
Apple Daily was a prominent critic of the Hong Kong government and the Chinese Communist Party. It was forced to close in 2021 after police raided its newsroom, arrested senior staff and froze the paper’s assets.
During Lai’s 156-day trial, prosecutors alleged he conspired with senior Apple Daily executives and others to ask foreign forces to impose sanctions, blockades or other hostile actions against Hong Kong or China.
