Jimmy Lai's verdict set for Monday

Group slams 'sham' trial in Hong Kong

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A Hong Kong court will issue a verdict Monday in the national security trial of pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, a case widely criticised as a sign of erosion of political freedoms in the Chinese city.

Mr Lai, who turned 78 this week, is charged with foreign collusion under Hong Kong's national security law, which Beijing imposed following huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.

The founder of the Apple Daily newspaper has been behind bars since late 2020, reportedly in solitary confinement.

Journalists had already started queuing yesterday outside the West Kowloon courthouse for a place in the chamber where Mr Lai's verdict will be read.

The hearing, before a three-judge panel, will begin at 10am local time on Monday, according to a court diary notice seen yesterday.

Previous hearings for Mr Lai's case often drew a crowd of supporters and press, some of whom had to watch a livestream of proceedings elsewhere in the court building as they could not fit into the courtroom.