Following Jimmy Lai’s conviction on national security and sedition charges on December 15, 2025, details from his months-long trial highlight the evidence presented, tight security, international observers, and the case’s role in Hong Kong’s broader clampdown on dissent.
The national security trial of Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-closed pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was held without a jury before a panel of three judges designated to hear such cases at Hong Kong’s West Kowloon court complex. Lai, 78, was found guilty on December 15, 2025, of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and publishing seditious materials, and now faces a possible life sentence under Hong Kong’s National Security Law and colonial-era sedition statutes, according to multiple news outlets and rights groups.
The proceedings, which began in December 2023 after repeated delays, stretched over many months and became one of the most closely watched national security cases since the law took effect in 2020. Rights organizations, including Amnesty International, say prosecutors relied heavily on Lai’s media and public advocacy — including Apple Daily articles calling for foreign sanctions, his meetings with overseas politicians, interviews with international media, and his posts and follower lists on X, formerly Twitter — as core evidence that his journalism and lobbying amounted to criminal conduct under the National Security Law.
Lai has been in custody since December 2020 after his arrest under the security law, and had already been convicted in separate cases involving unauthorized assemblies and fraud, receiving combined prison terms of more than seven years. Human rights groups report that he has spent much of this period in highly restrictive conditions, including prolonged solitary confinement, and have raised concerns about his deteriorating health as the trial and pretrial detention dragged on.
The courtroom was subject to heightened security, with police presence inside and outside the West Kowloon courthouse. International diplomats, journalists and observers regularly attended the hearings, which were conducted before three national security judges rather than a jury — a feature of Hong Kong’s security regime that critics say erodes long-standing common-law protections. Lai pleaded not guilty and denied encouraging violence or foreign sanctions, insisting that Apple Daily’s coverage represented the aspirations of Hong Kong residents for greater freedoms and arguing that his calls for international attention did not amount to criminal collusion.
Lai’s conviction has drawn sharp criticism from foreign governments and advocacy groups, which describe the case as emblematic of a wider crackdown on dissent since Beijing imposed the National Security Law in June 2020. As of mid‑2025, official and independent tallies indicate that more than 300 people have been arrested under the National Security Law, the newer Safeguarding National Security Ordinance and related sedition provisions, with well over 150 convictions. In a separate landmark case earlier in 2025, 45 pro-democracy figures involved in unofficial primary elections for the city’s legislature received prison sentences of up to around 10 years for conspiracy to commit subversion.
Sentencing in Lai’s case is expected to follow additional court hearings and mitigation submissions in early 2026. Rights groups and foreign officials argue that the outcome will not only determine the fate of one of Hong Kong’s most prominent media figures, but also signal how far the city’s authorities intend to go in using national security laws to reshape the territory’s political and media landscape.
