By Jessie Pang and James Pomfret
HONG KONG, Feb 6 (Reuters) – Hong Kong media tycoon and democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai will be sentenced on February 9, the city’s judiciary said on Friday, in a closely watched national security trial that has drawn international criticism including from the U.S. and Britain.
Lai, 78, the founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, was found guilty in December of two charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under a China-imposed national security law, as well as a charge of conspiracy to publish seditious material.
Lai, who pleaded not guilty to all the charges, faces possible life imprisonment.
Among the allegations, Lai was found guilty of using Apple Daily as a platform to conspire with six former executives and others to produce seditious publications between April 2019 and June 2021, as well as to collude with foreign forces, including the U.S., between July 2020 and June 2021.
He was accused of conspiring with activist Andy Li, paralegal Chan Tsz-wah and others to invite foreign countries to impose sanctions, blockades and other hostile activities against Hong Kong and China.
The marathon trial began in December 2023 and ran for 156 days. In 2020, Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law upon the Asian financial hub following mass and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Chief Justice Andrew Cheung, Hong Kong’s top judge, recently said that calls to free Lai prematurely would undermine the city’s rule of law.
“Such demands not only circumvent the legal procedures established to ensure accountability under the law, but also strike at the very heart of the rule of law itself,” he said.
Some countries, including the U.S. and Britain, have said the trial was politically motivated and demanded Lai’s immediate release. The Chinese and Hong Kong governments say Lai has been given a fair trial.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he had a “respectful discussion” regarding Lai with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a recent trip to Beijing, though he declined to provide details.
(Reporting by Jessie Pang and James Pomfret; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Thomas Derpinghaus)
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