Overview
- Judges found the 78-year-old Apple Daily founder guilty on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of publishing seditious material.
- The 855‑page judgment describes Lai as a “mastermind” seeking the downfall of China’s Communist Party and cites WhatsApp messages and meetings involving US officials including Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo and John Bolton.
- A penalty hearing is scheduled for January 12, with the national security law allowing a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
- Lai has been detained for more than five years, much of it in isolation, as his newspaper was forced to close in 2021 and his assets were frozen, and his family reports deteriorating health.
- Rights groups and several Western governments condemned the verdict as politically motivated, while Hong Kong authorities defended the process conducted by a panel of designated judges without a jury.