(FILES) In this photo taken on June 16, 2020, Hong kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai poses during an interview with AFP at the Next Digital offices in Hong Kong. Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai was found guilty on December 15, 2025 on two charges of foreign collusion and one charge of seditious publication, in a high-profile case that has drawn condemnation from Western countries. (Photo by Anthony WALLACE/ AFP)
HONG KONG: Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai (pic) was on Monday (Dec 15) found guilty on two counts of foreign collusion and of seditious publication, in one of the Chinese city's highest-profile national security trials.
The founder of the now-shut Apple Daily newspaper has been behind bars since 2020, with his case widely criticised as an example of eroding political freedoms under the national security law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong following huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Prosecutors said Lai, 78, was the mastermind behind two conspiracies to ask foreign countries to impose "sanctions or blockade" or take "hostile activities" against Hong Kong or China, and accused him of publishing materials they said "excited disaffection" against the government.
"There is no doubt that (Lai) had harboured his resentment and hatred of the PRC for many of his adult years, and this is apparent in his articles," Judge Esther Toh told the court, using the acronym of the People's Republic of China.
"It is also clear to us that the first defendant has from an early stage, long before the National Security Law, been applying his mind as to what leverage the US could use against the PRC," she said, referring to Lai.
Lai, wearing a light green cardigan and grey jacket, looked impassive as he listened to the verdicts with folded arms, and did not speak.
He now faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and will be sentenced at a later date. He can appeal the charges.
Dozens of police officers were deployed around the court building in the morning, with an armoured car positioned nearby.
Consular representatives, including those from the United States, the European Union and France, were among those queueing to enter.
"We're here to observe... to signal close interest in these cases," Matthias Kaufmann, deputy head of the EU Office to Hong Kong and Macao, said before entering the court.
Lai's wife Teresa, his son Lai Shun-yan, as well as veterans from Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp, including Cardinal Joseph Zen and former legislator Emily Lau, were also in attendance. -AFP
