Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s health in focus at mitigation hearing

HONG KONG - Hong Kong’s High Court

heard

on Jan 12 the mitigation plea of pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai, the final step before sentencing in a landmark national security trial that has drawn international condemnation and could see Lai jailed for life.

In December, Lai, 78, was

found guilty of being the “mastermind” on two counts

of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under a China-imposed national security law, and conspiracy to publish seditious material.

Lai has denied all charges.

The verdict was criticised by Britain, the European Union, the United States and others. The Hong Kong authorities say Lai received a fair trial and the national security law has restored stability to the city after mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.

A longstanding critic of the Chinese Communist Party and founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, Lai is the highest-profile figure to face prosecution under Hong Kong’s years-long crackdown after the 2019 protests.

Hearings such as the one on Jan 12 give defence lawyers the chance to seek a more lenient jail term than the 10 years to life imprisonment Lai could face for his convictions, set out by guidelines in the security law.

Lai sat in the glass dock with eight trial defendants, including key prosecution witnessess Andy Li and Wayland Chan Tsz-wah, who were separated by half a dozen prison guards.

Lai’s health under scrutiny

Lai did not submit a mitigation letter, his family told Reuters.

But his lawyer Robert Pang told the court his client suffered from hypertension, diabetes and cataracts among his medical conditions, and solitary confinement for more than 1,800 days had imposed an “additional burden”.

“Every day he spends in prison will bring him that much closer to the end of his life,” said Mr Pang, while adding that the ailments were not life-threatening.

Prosecutor Anthony Chau dismissed recent concerns that Lau’s health had deteriorated in prison, citing a Jan 9 medical report that called his condition “stable”. He also disputed a defence claim that Lai had lost 11kg in prison, with a loss of only 800g recorded.

“After examination, no obvious abnormality was found,” Mr Chau said, adding that Lai himself had sought solitary confinement for his own protection.

The trial judges held that Lai had used his influence and the Apple Daily tabloid to run a campaign to “seek the downfall of the CCP, even though the ultimate cost was the sacrifice of the interests of the people” of China and Hong Kong.

Ms Priscilia Lam, a lawyer for prosecution witness Wayland Chan, asked for his sentence to be cut at least by half, in return for giving key evidence against Lai and others.

Another defendant, Cheung Kim-hung, the former chief executive officer of Lai’s once-listed company, Next Digital, sought a reduction for having shown remorse and had decided to become a prosecution witness, his lawyer said.

The hearing resumes on Jan 13, with sentencing due later.

Overnight queues outside court

Nearly 100 people queued overnight outside the court building ahead of the hearing, some lining up three days in advance, equipped with sleeping bags, blankets and cardboard sheets for makeshift beds.

“Many people still support Mr Lai,” said Ms Lee Ying-chi, who said she had queued for several days. “We hope that he can be immediately released. He hasn’t done anything wrong.”

In an interview in January, US President Donald Trump said he had asked

he had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping

to release Lai, whom he called a “positive activist”, but got no reply.

Five experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council have also called for Lai’s release on humanitarian grounds, saying his conviction showed a “dramatic decline in fundamental freedoms and judicial independence”. REUTERS