Lai could be jailed for life after being found guilty of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces in the city\u2019s highest-profile trial under a China-imposed national security law. Judges in the Hong Kong high court on Monday called him a \u201cmastermind\u201d of conspiracies designed to destabilise the Chinese government.<\/p>\n
Lai, 78, was charged with one count of conspiracy to publish seditious publications and two counts of conspiracy to foreign collusion, charges brought under the city\u2019s punitive national security law<\/a> and a British colonial-era sedition law that has seen renewed use in recent years by authorities.<\/p>\n Rights groups condemned the verdicts, with the Committee to Protect Journalists calling it a \u201csham conviction\u201d and Amnesty International saying it \u201cfeels like the death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong<\/a>\u201d. Human Rights Watch called the conviction cruel and a travesty of justice.<\/p>\n Three entities of Lai\u2019s now-defunct media outlet Apply Daily were co-accused with Lai were also found guilty of the two foreign collusion charges.<\/p>\n Lai had pleaded not guilty to all charges, telling the court<\/a> he never tried to influence foreign policy or ask foreign officials to take concrete action on Hong Kong. He also distanced himself from violence and separatism, saying Apple Daily represented Hongkongers\u2019 core values such as \u201cfreedom, pursuit of democracy, freedom of speech\u201d.<\/p>\n Lai is serving several protest-related sentences totalling almost 10 years and could be given a life sentence for today\u2019s convictions. Sentencing is to be delivered at a later time, with the next court date on 12 January and Lai having an opportunity to appeal.<\/p>\n There was a large police presence outside the law courts building in West Kowloon for the verdicts at a trial that stretched for more than two years.<\/p>\n Lai\u2019s family has said his health has worsened after more than 1,800 days in solitary confinement and that he suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and heart palpitations. Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.04 EST<\/p>\n Taiwan has also condemned the guilty verdicts against Jimmy Lai and called for his immediate release.<\/p>\n \u201cThis ruling serves as a declaration to the world that Hong Kong\u2019s freedoms, democracy, and judicial independence have been systematically eroded,\u201d Taiwan\u2019s China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement quoted by Reuters.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Continuing the chorus of condemnation over the guilty verdicts for Jimmy Lai, the International Press Institute (IPI) said the conviction \u201cshows how Hong Kong\u2019s courts have been weaponised to crush independent journalism and voices\u201d.<\/p>\n The IPI\u2019s executive director, Scott Griffen, said in a statement:<\/p>\n Lai\u2019s inhumane imprisonment also lays bare how far the Chinese authorities will go to silence independent information and ideas.<\/p>\n His unwavering commitment to press freedom \u2014 despite years of brutal conditions \u2014 has made him a powerful symbol for media communities worldwide. It is long past time for his inhumane suffering to end. He must be released.<\/p>\n In October the IPI named Lai a 2025 world press freedom hero<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Jimmy Lai went from child labourer to billionaire \u2013 and used his power and wealth to promote democracy, which ultimately pitted him against authorities in Beijing.<\/p>\n As Helen Davidson<\/a> and Amy Hawkins<\/a> write in this just-published account of his rise and fall, the guilty verdicts in the landmark trial were expected. Lai has long been a thorn in Beijing\u2019s side and was a primary target of the most recent and definitive crackdown on Hong Kong\u2019s pro-democracy movement.<\/p>\n Lai\u2019s trial was one of the last unfinished national security prosecutions of Hong Kong\u2019s high-profile activists over their involvement in the 2019 protests. Hundreds of activists, lawyers and politicians have been pursued and jailed, or chased into exile. But few have captured global attention like Lai, whose life and career has developed in tangent with Hong Kong\u2019s sputtering walk towards democracy, and then its fall.<\/p>\n \u201cThe trajectory of his life reflects the history of Hong Kong itself,\u201d said one lawyer.<\/p>\n You can read the full story here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.25 EST<\/p>\n Images have come in of a correctional services department vehicle thought to have been prepared to carry Jimmy Lai leaving the West Kowloon law courts after the guilty verdicts against him.<\/p>\n Photograph: Chan Long Hei\/AP<\/p>\n As mentioned, Hong Kong\u2019s national security police chief, Steve Li Kwai-wah, has welcomed the verdicts, also saying the trial\u2019s judges were \u201cprofessional\u201d.<\/p>\n Li (right) speaks to media outside court. Photograph: May James\/EPAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a023.38 EST<\/p>\n Human Rights Watch has said Jimmy Lai\u2019s conviction \u201con bogus charges after five years of solitary confinement is both cruel and a travesty of justice\u201d.<\/p>\n The group\u2019s Asia director, Elaine Pearson, said in a statement:<\/p>\n The Chinese government\u2019s mistreatment of Jimmy Lai aims to silence everyone who dares to criticise the Communist party.<\/p>\n Foreign governments should respond to the travesty of Jimmy Lai\u2019s trial by pressing for the quashing of the case and his immediate release.<\/p>\n The Chinese and Hong Kong governments should pay a cost for their unrelenting efforts to muzzle Hong Kong\u2019s press.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Reporters Without Borders says it is outraged at Lai\u2019s \u201cunlawful conviction\u201d and that it \u201conly demonstrates the alarming deterioration of media freedom in the territory\u201d.<\/p>\n A statement from the press freedom NGO continued:<\/p>\n It is not an individual who has been on trial \u2013 it is press freedom itself, and with this verdict that has been shattered.<\/p>\n The Apple Daily founder has embodied the courage of independent journalists in Hong Kong, and this verdict crushes any remaining space they have.<\/p>\n Democracies must finally act, and act fast: if they don\u2019t, Lai will die in jail, and they will send a clear signal to the Chinese regime that it can spread its authoritarian model and violate international law, scot-free.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Hong Kong\u2019s national security police chief has reportedly welcomed the guilty verdicts against Jimmy Lai.<\/p>\n More on this soon.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a023.39 EST<\/p>\n Police and government officials are now addressing the media outside the court after Jimmy Lai\u2019s conviction on national security charges, as Helen Davidson has just posted on Bluesky.<\/p>\n Allow content provided by a third party?<\/p>\n This article includes content hosted on embed.bsky.app. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a022.40 EST<\/p>\n Verdicts a ‘death knell’ for HK press freedom \u2013 Amnesty<\/p>\n Amnesty International has condemned Jimmy Lai\u2019s conviction as \u201cdismaying\u201d and said it \u201cfeels like the death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong<\/a>, where the essential work of journalism has been rebranded as a crime\u201d.<\/p>\n The group\u2019s China<\/a> director, Sarah Brooks, said the verdicts also showed that Hong Kong\u2019s national security laws were designed not to protect people but \u201cto silence them\u201d.<\/p>\n Brooks called Lai a \u201cprisoner of conscience\u201d and demanded his immediate release.<\/p>\n The statement said Lai was jailed \u201csimply because he and his Apple Daily newspaper criticised the government\u201d and that his conviction \u201cshould also serve as a warning to all people doing business in Hong Kong: that pursuing opportunities in the city comes with severe legal risks\u201d.<\/p>\n This verdict is not just about one man; it is the latest step in a systematic crackdown on freedom of expression in Hong Kong: targeting not only protests and political parties but the very idea that people can \u2013 indeed, should \u2013 hold power to account.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a022.57 EST<\/p>\n Lai verdicts condemned as ‘sham conviction’<\/p>\n The Committee to Protect Journalists has decried the Jimmy Lai verdicts as a \u201csham conviction\u201d and called for his immediate release.<\/p>\n The advocacy group\u2019s Asia-Pacific director, Beh Lih Yi, said: \u201cThis sham conviction is a disgraceful act of persecution.\u201d<\/p>\n Her comments on the group\u2019s website<\/a> continue:<\/p>\n The ruling underscores Hong Kong\u2019s utter contempt for press freedom, which is supposed to be protected under the city\u2019s mini-constitution, the Basic Law. Jimmy Lai\u2019s only crime is running a newspaper and defending democracy.<\/p>\n The risk of him dying from ill health in prison increases as each day passes \u2013 he must be reunited with his family immediately.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a022.15 EST<\/p>\n Jimmy Lai is facing possible lifetime jail sentences after today\u2019s verdicts.<\/p>\n As mentioned earlier, the media tycoon and pro-democracy figure had pleaded not guilty to two counts of \u201cconspiracy to foreign collusion\u201d under the security law as well as one count of \u201cconspiracy to publish seditious publications\u201d.<\/p>\n The Hong Kong<\/a> high court has just found him guilty of all three counts after a trial that lasted for more than two years.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll be bringing you reaction to the verdicts as it comes to hand.<\/p>\n
With Helen Davidson<\/a> and agencies<\/p>\n
![\"Helen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Helen_Davidson.png\")
Helen Davidson<\/p>\n