dailynewsnblog
Key events
Helen Davidson
As has become usual with these national security cases, there is a large police presence outside the West Kowloon district court.
It’s about two hours from the verdict hearing beginning, and there are officers in plain clothes and uniform everywhere, as well as a massive press pack. Smaller than I have seen before, however, is the queue for the general public.
The day Lai gave testimony, and big days for other cases like that of the Hong Kong 47, have drawn hundreds of people wanting to attend. But today there is perhaps fewer than 100. At least half of them were here last night, when I came by around 10pm.
Some passers-by alleged those people were paid by pro-Beijing groups to sit in the queue and reserve seats that might otherwise be taken by supporters of the defendants, or foreign diplomatic observers. I tried to ask them why they were here, but they all refused to speak to me, and hid behind umbrellas or blankets.
One man, Simon, said he wanted to “give some support to Jimmy Lai and his wife”.
“I believe this will be a bad result,” he said.
They want to put him in prison.
Simon didn’t stay overnight but was back again around 6am this morning. He and a friend are holding bright red apples, to represent the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper that Lai founded and which stands as his co-accused.
It’s now 8.35am in Hong Kong and its high court is set to begin delivering its verdict on the national security charges against Jimmy Lai at 10am (2am GMT).
The three judges delivering the ruling are Esther Toh, Alex Lee and Susana D’Almada Remedios.
If Lai is found guilty, the incarcerated media tycoon will probably be sentenced at a later date and can appeal against the verdict.
Opening
Welcome to our live coverage of the final stages of the trial of Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong media mogul and pro-democracy activist. Today, we are expecting a verdict on national security charges following a trial that has stretched for more than two years.
The 78-year-old has been in jail since late 2020, on remand and serving several protest-related sentences totalling almost 10 years. He may face a life sentence if found guilty.
Lai had been charged with one count of conspiracy to publish seditious publications and two counts of conspiracy to foreign collusion, charges brought under the city’s punitive national security law, introduced in 2020, and a British colonial-era sedition law that has seen renewed use in recent years by authorities.
We will bring you more developments as they happen.
