Closing arguments ended Thursday in the national security trial of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, although judges did not say when they would render a verdict.
Judge Esther Toh, a member of the three-judge panel overseeing the case, said the court will release more details “in good time.”
The 77-year-old founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper faces life in prison if convicted of illegal foreign collusion under Hong Kong’s restrictive National Security Law, which was imposed by Beijing in 2020 after the massive pro-democracy protests of 2019.
Lai, who has denied the charges, has spent more than four years in prison. He appeared in court in a white shirt and tan jacket, where he smiled and waved to supporters, according to an Agence France-Presse report.
At the trial, prosecutors said he masterminded conspiracies involving Apple Daily executives and a web of foreign connections to request foreign actions against China and Hong Kong around the time of the 2019 protests.
Defense lawyers said that Lai ended those activities before the national security law took effect in June 2020.
Closing arguments in the trial were delayed twice this month: once due to weather, and once out of concern for Lai’s health. Earlier this year, Lai’s son warned that his father’s health was declining due to his imprisonment, much of that time spent in solitary confinement. Press freedom and human rights organizations have also cited Lai’s health in calls to release him.
Includes reporting from Agence France-Presse.
