Mitigation hearings for Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon, Jimmy Lai, concluded on Tuesday, in the final step before the court hands down a sentence in the landmark national security case.
In December, the 78-year-old was convicted of two counts of conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces and one count of conspiracy to distribute seditious publications.
Lai, who had pleaded not guilty to all charges, faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. The sentencing date has not been scheduled.
Lai’s conviction of collusion and sedition offenses marks the highest-profile example of the clampdown on media freedoms in Hong Kong, once known as a haven for free press in Asia, since Beijing imposed the national security law in 2020.
The prosecution of Lai, a prominent critic of the Chinese Communist Party, has drawn international criticism as “politically motivated” — a claim Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have strongly rejected.
Lai, founder of the now-defunct Hong Kong tabloid Apple Daily, was arrested in 2020 and has remained behind bars throughout a years-long trial.
Lawyers point to Jimmy Lai’s health, seek leniency
Seeking a reduced sentence during a hearing on Monday, Lai’s lawyer, Robert Pang, centered his arguments on the defendant’s poor health.
“Every day that he spends in prison would bring him that much closer to the end of his life,” Pang said, listing in court Lai’s ailments, including hypertension, diabetes, cataracts, and a blocked vein in one eye.
In addition, Lai has spent more than 1,800 days in solitary confinement since his trial began in December 2023. His lawyer Pang argued that such treatment was making his prison life “harsher” than that of others.
Prosecutor Anthony Chau, however, claimed in court that Lai’s health was stable, as he had lost only 0.8 kg (less than two pounds) over five years of detention. Chai also said that Lai’s solitary confinement was at the defendant’s request.
The three judges — all handpicked by Hong Kong leader John Lee to oversee national security proceedings — also appeared to be skeptical that Lai’s health is deteriorating.
Health factors, therefore, “might be less considered in the final sentencing,” said Eric Lai, a Hong Kong senior fellow at Georgetown Center for Asian Law (GCAL).
But other aspects might still be factored in and lead to a mitigation, “even if the judges put his starting point for sentencing as life in prison,” he told DW.
A guilty plea usually can lead to a sentence reduction. Under the security law, a reduced penalty might also be granted to those who report offenses committed by others.
The other eight co-defendants charged alongside Lai with national security offences pleaded guilty in 2021 and 2022. They admitted to conspiring with Lai and others to request foreign forces to impose sanctions, blockades or engage in other hostile activities.
Fears of Lai dying in prison
Even wth a potential mitigation, Lai still faces a minimum sentence of 10 years for his three national security offenses.
Prosecutor Chau revealed in court that Lai, who is already serving sentences for four other criminal cases involving fraud and participation in unauthorized assemblies, will complete those terms by June this year. Then, he would required to start any additional prison terms.
Lai’s son and daughter, Sebastien and Claire Lai, have both said they fear their father could die in prison.
“The life expectancy of Hong Kong males is 83. He is not far from that, and we are obviously extremely, extremely worried,” Claire Lai told the media on Monday.
She also said in a video on social media that her father repeatedly stated that “he never knowingly requested to be put in solitary confinement,” and such treatment could lead to adverse health outcomes, potentially fatal ones.
Last month, Lai’s son Sebastien said if Lai were left to die in jail, Hong Kong would die “with my father,” as the government would have “arbitrarily and vindictively killed a man for his journalism, for his criticism.”
Chan Kin-man, a former associate professor of sociology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, also said he is not optimistic that “Lai will make it out alive.”
He pointed out that there is no dedicated medical parole system in Hong Kong where prisoners can automatically be released because of serious illness.
“For now, I can’t see any way out,” Chan told DW.
A test of Beijing’s international image
The outcome of the landmark case is widely seen as a stress test for Hong Kong’s judiciary and a demonstration of the influence that Beijing wields over it under the controversial national security law.
“If Jimmy Lai received a life sentence in the end, it would only signal to the international community… that the judiciary is weaponized to punish dissent like in the mainland,” GCAL’s Eric Lai said.
Beijing has tightened its control over the former British colony since the crackdown on the pro-democracy protests in 2019, with media tycoon Jimmy Lai being just one of many critical voices put on trial.
In their December verdict, the judges said Lai had spearheaded the conspiracies and used Apple Daily to promote his political views in an attempt to undermine the Chinese government both before and after the security law came into force.
Lai’s lawyers acknowledged during the trial that he had previously called for foreign sanctions, but said those calls were dropped to comply with the national security law after it took effect.
UK’s Starmer expected to discuss Lai’s fate in Beijing
Following Lai’s conviction in December, foreign governments and rights groups condemned the charges against him, a British citizen, and called for his release.
US President Donald Trump said he felt “so badly” about Lai’s conviction and had asked Chinese leader Xi Jinping to consider releasing him.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is also expected to raise the issue again during his upcoming visit to Beijing, reportedly scheduled for late January.
However, Eric Lai said foreign pressure was unlikely to have much impact.
“Since Xi came to power in 2013, hardly any political dissidents in mainland China have been granted early release as a result of explicit bargaining by foreign governments,” he said.
In response to the international condemnation, China has denied eroding Hong Kong’s judicial independence and has urged “relevant countries” not to make what it called “irresponsible remarks” about the trial.
Edited by: Karl Sexton
