Hong Kong’s High Court will hand down its judgment in the national security trial of former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying on Monday.
Judges Esther Toh Lye-ping, Susana Maria D’Almada Remedios and Alex Lee Wan-tang will deliver their verdict at 10am in a hearing that is expected to last for about an hour, according to the judiciary’s website, following a marathon trial that concluded in August after more than 1½ years.
Lai, who has been detained since December 2020, has denied two conspiracy counts of collusion with foreign forces and a third of conspiracy to print seditious articles.
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He allegedly used his news outlet and social media platforms to trigger international sanctions and incite public disaffection towards authorities between April 2019 and June 2021.
He is also said to have provided financial backing to the “Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong” (SWHK) lobbying group to instigate hostile actions from the West.
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He and the three companies he owned, namely Apple Daily Limited, Apple Daily Printing Limited, and AD Internet Limited, were charged under the city’s national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.