HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court will deliver its verdict on Monday in the trial of former pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai, who's charged with conspiracies to commit sedition and collusion with foreign forces in a case that marks how much the semi-autonomous Chinese city has changed since Beijing began a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent five years ago.
Lai, 78, was arrested in 2020 under a national security law imposed by Chinese authorities
to quell the massive anti-government protests that rocked the city in 2019.
Lai's 156-day trial is being closely watched by foreign governments and political observers as a test of the judicial independence and media freedom in the former British colony, which was promised it could maintain its Western-style civil liberties for 50 years after returning to Chinese rule in 1997.
Here's what to know about the landmark trial:
Hong Kong was long known for its vibrant press scene and protest culture in Asia. But following months of anti-government protests that brought hundreds of thousands of people into the streets, Beijing began a sweeping crackdown that has chilled most open dissent in the city.
Lai was one of the first prominent figures charged under the National Security Law, which has also been used to prosecute other leading activists and opposition politicians. Beijing deemed the law crucial for the city's stability.
Dozens of civil society groups have closed, as tens of thousands of young professionals and middle-class families emigrated to destinations like Britain, Canada, Taiwan, Australia and the United States.
Lai, a rags-to-riches tycoon who formerly owned clothing chain Giordano, entered the media world after the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.
He described himself as driven by the belief that delivering information is equal to delivering freedom. His newspaper drew a strong following with tabloid-style coverage of politics and celebrities, as well as a strong pro-democracy stance. It often urged its readers to join protests.
Lai took to the streets himself, too, including in the 2019 protests.
Lai was arrested under the security law in August 2020 as about 200 police officers raided Apple Daily's building. He has been in custody since December 2020.
Within a year, authorities used the same law to arrest senior executives of Apple Daily, raided its offices again and froze $2.3 million of its assets, effectively forcing the newspaper to shut down. The paper’s final edition sold out in hours, with readers scooping up all 1 million copies.
The most serious accusation against Lai was that he and other people had invited the U.S. and other foreign powers to act against China with sanctions or other measures “under the guise of fighting for freedom and democracy.”
One major issue was whether Lai made such calls after the security law went into effect. Lai did not deny that he'd called for sanctions earlier, but insisted that he stopped once the law came in.
Prosecutors argued that even though Lai didn’t make direct requests for sanctions after the law took effect, he had tried to “create a false impression” of China to justify foreign countries to impose punishment, pointing to articles and his comments in online broadcasts critical of Hong Kong and China.
Lai's lawyer Robert Pang said his remarks were just armchair punditry, akin to chatter “over the dim sum table.”
Lai said he wrote “without any sense of hostility or intention to be seditious." Pang also pressed the court to consider freedom of expression and accused the prosecution of treating human rights as a foreign concept, leading to testy exchanges.
“It’s not wrong to support freedom of expression. It’s not wrong to support human rights,” he said. “Nor is it wrong not to love a particular administration or even the country.”
Judge Esther Toh responded that “It’s not wrong not to love the government, but if you do that by certain nefarious means, then it’s wrong.”
Prosecutors also dwelled on Lai's foreign contacts, including meetings he had with former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and then-Vice President Mike Pence at the height of the 2019 protests.
Prosecutor Anthony Chau said Lai's foreign connections showed his “unwavering intent to solicit” sanctions, blockades or other hostile activities against China and Hong Kong.
The prosecution also alleged Lai had conspired with fellow Apple Daily senior executives, members of an advocacy group called “Fight for Freedom Stand with Hong Kong” and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China to call for foreign actions.
Six Apple Daily senior executives involved in the case pleaded guilty in 2022 and some of them served as prosecution witnesses.
Two other alleged co-conspirators linked to “Stand with Hong Kong” group also testified against Lai, but legal team called one of them “a serial liar” and argued that even if accepted his testimony didn’t show that Lai had agreed to work with them as alleged.
Outside the courtroom, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international political group critical of China, said in a statement that it rejected “false claims” regarding Lai’s involvement with its network.
Lai, a British citizen, has drawn concerns from foreign governments, including the U.S. and the U.K. — both have called for his release. U.S. President Donald Trump said he has raised the case with China, and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said his government has made it a priority to secure the release of Lai.
But Beijing has called Lai “an agent and pawn of anti-China foreign forces," describing him as the main planner behind disruptive activities in the city.
Controversy arose even before his trial started. Lai's trial, originally scheduled to start in December 2022, was postponed to 2023 as authorities barred a British lawyer from representing Lai, citing that it would likely pose national security risks.
In August, Pang said Lai had experienced heart palpitations and was given a heart monitor. His children raised concerns over his deteriorating health. The government said a medical examination of Lai found no abnormalities following his heart problems and that the medical care he received in custody was adequate.
The security law authorizes a range of sentences depending on the seriousness of the offense and the defendant’s role in it, from three years for the less serious to 10 years to life for people convicted of “grave” offenses.
If Lai is convicted, sentencing is expected on a later day. He can appeal the outcome.
