Hong Kong’s High Court on Monday found pro-democracy campaigner and media tycoon Jimmy Lai guilty of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and to publish seditious material under a China-imposed national security law, a ruling that could see the 78-year-old jailed for life.
The verdict has renewed international scrutiny over judicial independence in the global financial hub, amid a prolonged crackdown on political dissent following mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.
“There is no doubt” that Lai “had harboured his resentment and hatred of” China for many years, Judge Esther Toh said as she delivered the ruling in a packed courtroom. The panel also included judges Alex Lee and Susana D’Almada Remedios.
Lai, founder of the now-closed Apple Daily newspaper and one of the most outspoken critics of China’s Communist Party leadership, sat with his arms folded, wearing a pale green jumper and grey jacket.
Lai was convicted on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of conspiracy to publish seditious material. He had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The trial, which began in December 2023, represents the most prominent application of Beijing’s national security law in Hong Kong since it was imposed in 2020 after the protests that rocked the city a year earlier.
Lai has already spent nearly five years in prison while awaiting a verdict. He will be sentenced at a later date, with a pre-sentencing hearing scheduled for 12 January, when he will be able to seek leniency.
The verdict comes as Hong Kong’s remaining democratic opposition continues to fade. On Sunday, the city’s largest opposition group, the Democratic Party, voted to disband under pressure from Beijing.
Crowds, security and public reaction
Outside the courthouse, people queued overnight for one of the 507 public tickets to attend the hearing, some bringing camping gear. Police maintained a visible presence in the surrounding area.
The case has drawn intense attention from foreign governments, rights groups and media organisations, who say the prosecution is politically motivated and aimed at silencing dissent.
International criticism and calls for release
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the verdict, calling it “a disgraceful act of persecution”.
“Jimmy Lai’s only crime is running a newspaper and defending democracy,” the group said, warning that the risk to his health increases with each day he remains in prison.
Mark Sabah, UK and Europe Director of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, said the verdict was no surprise.
“The trial against Jimmy Lai has been a grotesque exercise in legal subversion — a show trial masquerading as justice,” he said, adding that it marked the destruction of Hong Kong’s reputation as a global legal centre.
Sabah noted that Lai is a British citizen and said his release should be raised during British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s planned visit to Beijing in January.
The United States and Britain have previously called for Lai’s immediate release. President Donald Trump raised Lai’s case with Chinese President Xi Jinping in October and said he would do his utmost to “save” him.
Beijing defends verdict as lawful
Chinese and Hong Kong authorities say Lai is receiving a fair trial and reject claims of political interference. Officials argue that the national security law applies equally to all and that freedoms are not absolute when national security is at stake.
Lai’s family, however, say his health has deteriorated after more than 1,800 days in solitary confinement. He suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and heart palpitations, they said.
Verdict comes amid wider tensions
The ruling comes at a sensitive time for Hong Kong, where residents are still mourning after a deadly fire last month killed at least 160 people in a residential complex.
Chinese national security authorities have warned they will crack down on anyone attempting to use the tragedy to stir unrest or revive the protest movement that plunged the city into political turmoil in 2019.
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