Overview
- The judiciary scheduled a one-hour hearing for 10 a.m. Monday at West Kowloon Court to sentence Lai, 78, following his December convictions for collusion with foreign forces and seditious publication.
- Under the law, grave collusion offenses carry 10 years to life in prison, while sedition is punishable by up to two years.
- Lai will be sentenced alongside multiple co-defendants, including six former Apple Daily executives, associated companies and two activists, most of whom pleaded guilty and some of whom testified against him.
- He has been in custody nearly continuously since December 2020 and will have spent almost five years and two months behind bars by the time of sentencing.
- The lengthy trial ran 156 days and drew international criticism from rights groups and Western governments, with President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer urging his release, which Hong Kong and Beijing say is unwarranted.