Mitigation hearing starts in trial of Hong Kong activist

Supporters of Jimmy Lai had queued for days outside court

- SHWETA SHARMA

A court in Hong Kong has begun hearing a plea for a more lenient sentence for British media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who was found guilty last month in a case that has been widely condemned as politically motivated. The four-day mitigation plea process is the final step before sentencing in Mr Lai's landmark national security trial, which could see the ailing pro-democracy activist jailed for life.

Mr Lai, 78, founded the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper and was a passionate advocate for the city's democratic freedoms. The court found him guilty in December on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and conspiracy to publish seditious material.

His conviction has raised international concerns about the curtailing of press freedom and human rights in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Leaders from around the world have criticised Mr Lai's conviction, with the British government calling it a “politically motivated prosecution” and demanding his immediate release. US president Donald Trump, who had discussed Mr Lai's case with China, said he felt “so badly” and would keep raising the matter with China's president Xi Jinping.

Mr Lai, alongside other co-defendants involved in the case, is pleading for a shorter sentence during the four-day mitigation hearing. The maximum penalty is life imprisonment. Sentencing will come later.