Former Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai to hear verdict in his landmark national security case

HONG KONG (AP) — Jimmy Lai, a former Hong Kong media mogul and one of the city’s most outspoken critics of Beijing, arrived in court to hear the long-awaited verdict in his landmark national security trial in a Hong Kong court on Monday. He could face life in prison if convicted.

Lai, 78, was arrested in August 2020 under a Beijing-imposed national security law that was implemented following massive anti-government protests in 2019. During his five years in custody, Lai has been sentenced for several lesser offenses, and appears to have grown more frail and thinner.

After entering the courtroom wearing a grey blazer, Lai smiled and waved to the public gallery. Among the attendees were Lai’s wife and son, and Hong Kong’s Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen.

Lai’s trial, heard by three judges approved by the government without a jury present, has been closely monitored by the U.S., Britain, the European Union and political observers as a barometer of media freedom and judicial independence in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

His verdict is also a test for Beijing’s diplomatic ties. U.S. President Donald Trump said he has raised the ca...