A Hong Kong court began hearing final arguments in the landmark national security trial of British media tycoon Jimmy Lai on Monday after multiple delays.
The 77-year-old founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily is facing the prospect of life in prison if found guilty of sedition and collusion with foreign powers under Hong Kong’s national security law.
Mr Lai has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and conspiracy to publish seditious material.
The closing arguments were scheduled to begin on 14 August, but were delayed twice due to the city’s weather conditions and Mr Lai’s deteriorating health.
Mr Lai’s lawyer, Robert Pang, told the court last Friday that the jailed millionaire experienced episodes where he felt he was collapsing and had heart “palpitations”. The court adjourned the proceedings and ordered that he be provided with a heart monitor and medication.
Prosecutor Anthony Chau confirmed Mr Lai had been provided with these items on Friday and that he was now fit for court.
Mr Lai, noticeably thinner than when the trial began in late 2023, was dressed in a white jacket in the glass dock and pressed his palms together in a prayer gesture several times to his family and supporters.
One of the judges, Esther Toh, said additional breaks could be provided for Mr Lai if needed.
The prosecutor on Monday discussed the security law concerning the collusion charges, arguing that the request to impose sanctions must include officials and not just states.
He planned to lay out other principal issues in the afternoon and make his closing statement on Tuesday.
Earlier, prosecutors alleged that Mr Lai had asked foreign countries, especially the US, to take action against Beijing “under the guise of fighting for freedom and democracy”.
On the first day of his testimony, Mr Lai denied he had asked then vice president Mike Pence and then secretary of state Mike Pompeo to take action against Hong Kong and China during the 2019 protests.
When Mr Lai’s lawyer questioned him about an Apple Daily report saying he had asked the US government to sanction Beijing and Hong Kong leaders, he said he must have discussed it with Mr Pompeo as he had no reason to doubt the accuracy of the report by the newspaper he founded.
But Mr Lai said that he wouldn’t have encouraged foreign sanctions after the national security law was enacted on 30 June 2020.
Mr Lai has been in prison for nearly four years for his role in the pro-democracy protests of 2019, which led to Beijing imposing the national security law in the city.
Last week, Reporters Without Borders said in a statement that Mr Lai’s health had deteriorated after being in solitary confinement since 2021.
The watchdog said he had been restricted to 50 minutes of “exercise” a day and barely allowed exposure to natural light.
The media tycoon’s son, Sebastien Lai, claimed last year that his father, who suffers from diabetes, had lost significant weight and that he had been denied independent medical care.
“I don’t want my father to die in jail,” he said, urging the UK government to do more to secure Mr Lai’s release.
Sebastien Lai told Sky News his father had been put in a cell where the temperatures reached 30-40C.
“He bakes in there essentially,” the son said. “So we’re incredibly worried about him and all of this in the last four years was aimed to break him, to break his spirit.”
The trial began in December 2023 and was originally scheduled to last 80 days.
Mr Lai’s detention has drawn concern from foreign governments and rights groups. US president Donald Trump said last year, before starting his second term, he would talk to Chinese leader Xi Jinping about Mr Lai’s release. “One hundred percent, I will get him out.”
However, in a Fox News radio interview released last Thursday, Mr Trump denied saying he would “100 per cent” save Mr Lai but rather that he would bring the issue up. “I’ve already brought it up, and I’m going to do everything I can to save him,” he said.
