By James Pomfret and Jessie Pang
HONG KONG, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's High Court found tycoon and pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai guilty on Monday of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces in the city's highest-profile trial under a China-imposed national security law that could see him jailed for life.
The landmark case has drawn international scrutiny of Hong Kong's judicial independence amid a years-long crackdown on rights and freedoms in the global financial hub after 2019 pro-democracy protests that Beijing saw as a challenge to its rule.
While 78-year-old Lai's supporters see him as a freedom fighter, Beijing regards him as a mastermind of the protests and a conspirator advocating for U.S. sanctions against Hong Kong and the mainland. Chinese authorities have rejected accusations of eroding the city's rule of law.
SENTENCING EXPECTED NEXT YEAR
"There is no doubt" that Lai "had harboured his resentment and hatred of" China for many of his adult years, Judge Esther Toh told a packed courtroom as the tycoon, wearing a pale green jumper and a grey jacket, sat with his arms folded.
The two other judges in his case were Alex Lee and Susana D’Almada Remedios.
Lai, the founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper and one of the most prominent critics of China's Communist Party leadership, has already spent five years in jail, facing a slew of litigation under the sweeping security legislation that Beijing enacted in response to the 2019 protests.
A pre-sentencing hearing at which Lai can plead for lenience is scheduled for January 12. His lawyer, Steven Kwan, said Lai would decide whether to appeal after the sentencing.
Hong Kong leader John Lee and national security police chief Steve Li told reporters on Monday they welcomed the verdict.
"The judiciary is confident and unafraid of any intimidation and firmly discharges its responsibility to safeguard national security," the city's leader said at the airport before a regular visit to Beijing.
Lai, who suffers from health issues including diabetes and high blood pressure, was found guilty on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one of conspiracy to publish seditious material. He had denied all charges.
The verdict bookends a year that marked the essential disappearance of Hong Kong's democratic opposition under pressure from Beijing. The Democratic Party voted to disband on Sunday.
TRUMP FEELS 'BADLY' ABOUT THE VERDICT
Lai's trial began in December 2023, with the verdict seen as a potential fresh diplomatic flashpoint in the former British colony that reverted to Chinese rule in 1997.
U.S. President Donald Trump had raised Lai's case with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a meeting in October and has said he would do his utmost to "save" Lai.
"I feel so badly," Trump said at the White House on Monday when asked by a reporter about Lai's conviction.
"I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release. He's not well. He's an older man and he's not well. So I did put that request out. We'll see what happens," Trump said, referring to the October meeting.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement the verdict shows China is using its laws to "silence" those seeking to protect free speech and other fundamental rights. He urged Hong Kong authorities to release Lai on humanitarian grounds.
The British government, which is trying to build stronger economic ties with Beijing, condemned what it called the "politically motivated prosecution" and called for Lai's immediate release.
British foreign minister Yvette Cooper told parliament the Chinese ambassador to the UK had been summoned to underline the government's position on Lai's conviction in the "strongest terms".
China's foreign ministry criticised Britain, Australia, the United States and Germany for smearing Hong Kong's justice system. The Chinese embassy in London accused Britain of "blatantly" interfering in China's affairs, saying its colonial rule had come to an end and it had no right to "point fingers".
Lai's son Sebastien said the conviction was the perfect example of how Beijing had weaponised the national security law.
He told Reuters in London that countries such as Britain should make his father's release a condition when weighing closer ties with China. Asked about a possible visit by Prime Minister Keir Starmer to China next year, he said his message was: "bring my father back".
Visiting Washington, Lai's daughter Claire Lai declined to comment on whether she had contact with U.S. officials since the verdict, but said if her father died in prison it would do "irrevocable damage to the reputation of Hong Kong."
"We hope that President Trump continues to raise my father and we ... are so extremely grateful for all the support we have received," she told Reuters.
Beh Lih Yi, Asia-Pacific director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said: "Jimmy Lai's only crime is running a newspaper and defending democracy."
Other groups, such as Amnesty International, and pro-democracy activists who fled the city after the protests fearing prosecution have also condemned the verdict.
The Chinese and Hong Kong governments have said his trial was "fair and just" and that the national security law treats all equally.
Lai's family say his health has worsened after more than 1,800 days in solitary confinement. Sebastien Lai said his father had lost 10 kg (22 pounds) in the last year alone.
CITY MOURNING FIRE VICTIMS
The verdict comes at a delicate moment for Hong Kong, where residents have been mourning after a fire last month killed at least 160 people in one of the worst blazes in a residential complex globally in recent years.
Authorities have warned they would crack down on anyone who tried to use the fire to "plunge Hong Kong back into the chaos" of 2019.
After the verdict, China's national security office in Hong Kong called Lai a "pawn of external anti-China forces" who attempted a "colour revolution" in the city.
"We strongly condemn the political manipulation of Hong Kong by a small number of Western politicians and anti-China media under the guise of 'human rights' and 'freedom', openly exonerating Jimmy Lai," it said in a statement.
(Reporting by James Pomfret and Jessie Pang in Hong Kong; Additional reporting by Clare Jim, Joyce Zhou, Anne Marie Roantree, Donny Kwok and Farah Master; Catarina Demony and Kate Holton in London; and Michael Martina and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; Writing by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Kate Mayberry, Alex Richardson and Nick Zieminski)
