Closing arguments began Monday in the trial of Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy media chief who founded the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper in Hong Kong.
The 77-year-old Lai is charged with illegal foreign collusion and conspiring with others to issue seditious publications under Hong Kong’s restrictive National Security Law, which was imposed by Beijing in 2020. He could face life in prison if convicted. Lai has denied the charges.
Prosecutors on Monday said that Lai had “unwavering intent to solicit sanctions, blockades, or other hostile activities” against Hong Kong and China from foreign governments, a violation of the National Security Law. Prosecutor Anthony Chau referenced Lai’s travel to the United States around the time of the Hong Kong protests in 2019, including a trip in July of that year when he met with Mike Pence, then the U.S. vice president.
In testimony last year, Lai denied asking anything specific of Pence. He said he also met with then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, asking Pompeo for the U.S. “not to do something, but to say something. To voice out its support for Hong Kong.”
He also said he would not have encouraged foreign sanctions after the law was enacted on June 30, 2020.
The U.S. government has called for Lai’s release as recently as February. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the U.S. remarks were “openly supporting anti-China and Hong Kong-disrupting element Jimmy Lai.”
Closing arguments in the trial were postponed twice last week, on Thursday for bad weather and on Friday to address concerns about Lai’s health. Lai had reported experiencing heart “palpitations” and feeling like he might collapse, his lawyer said.
Lai’s health has been a longstanding concern for his family and supporters. In February, his son Sebastien said that more than four years in prison, much of the time in solitary confinement, had worsened his father’s medical issues. “His body is breaking down … It’s akin to torture,” Sebastien Lai told Reuters.
Prosecutors on Monday said that Lai had been prescribed medication and was wearing a heart rate monitoring device during court proceedings. The prosecution’s opening statement is expected to wrap up Tuesday.
Includes reporting from Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press.
