JIMMY LAI CONVICTED IN LANDMARK NATIONAL SECURITY TRIAL

Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy former Hong Kong media mogul and outspoken critic of Beijing, was convicted in a landmark national security trial in the city's court on Monday, which could send him to prison for the rest of his life.

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Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy former Hong Kong media mogul and outspoken critic of Beijing was convicted in a landmark national security trial

Three government-vetted judges found Lai, 78, guilty of conspiring with others to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiracy to publish seditious articles. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Lai was arrested in August 2020 under a Beijing-imposed national security law that was implemented following massive anti-government protests in 2019. Lai has spent five years in custody, much of it in solitary confinement, and his family said his health has declined rapidly. He has also been convicted of several lesser offenses related to fraud allegations and his actions in 2019.

Lai's trial, conducted without a jury, 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.

Sebastien Lai, one of his children, said the family was saddened but not surprised by the verdict.