Hong Kong’s court on Monday heard mitigation arguments in the sentencing case of Jimmy Lai, the democracy advocate and former publisher of Apple Daily, whose conviction under the city’s national security law carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Lai, 78, appeared alongside other co-defendants for four-day hearings focused on mitigation, and the court did not issue a sentencing decision Monday. Sentencing was scheduled to be decided later, with the hearing set to continue Tuesday and address Lai’s co-defendants.
Lai was arrested in 2020 under the national security law imposed by Beijing following anti-government protests that shook Hong Kong the year before. In December, a Hong Kong court found him guilty of conspiring with others to collude with foreign forces and conspiracy to publish seditious articles, a conviction that drew concerns internationally about the curtailing of press freedom in the former British colony.
At Monday’s hearing, Lai’s lawyer Robert Pang argued that Lai’s health, age and solitary confinement would make his sentence more burdensome than what the general prison population would face. Pang said that the impact of a lengthy prison term would be greater given Lai’s age and argued that Lai’s solitary confinement made his prison life harsher than others.
Pang also told the court, “Every day he spends in prison,” “brings him closer to the end of his life.” He said Lai’s physical conditions included hypertension and diabetes, as well as a blocked vein in one eye. The court also heard references to Lai’s weight and changes in it, including Pang’s argument that Lai’s weight had once dropped significantly within a year before he later regained some of it.
Prosecutor Anthony Chau said Lai’s health was stable and testified about the weight Lai lost over time in detention, saying he had lost 0.8 kg (about 1.8 pounds) over five years of detention. Chau said Lai weighed 79.2 kg (about 175 pounds) when it was last measured this month and added that Lai was still considered obese as an Asian adult, a comment that drew chuckles from some people in the public gallery.
The hearing also included discussion of Lai’s condition and past medical information. Lai’s lawyers said in August that he suffered from heart palpitations, and the Hong Kong government told the court that no abnormalities were found in a subsequent medical exam. When Lai entered the courtroom on Monday, he pressed his palms together—an apparent gesture of gratitude—and smiled at people in the gallery.
The evidence over weight and appearance included an exchange in which the judges rejected estimating weight based on human eyes or what was seen in camera images, saying people may look fatter on camera. Pang argued that Lai no longer matched images used in the case before detention, including references to his earlier nickname, while Chau’s comments put the current condition in dispute.
While Lai’s case proceeds through mitigation, the court also heard that six ex-Apple Daily senior executives and two activists associated with the case had entered guilty pleas, admitting they conspired with Lai and others to request foreign forces to impose sanctions, blockades or take other hostile actions. The AP reported that a guilty plea can lead to a sentence reduction under the national security law, including for those who report on offenses committed by others.
Lawyers representing two activists argued that final sentences for their clients should be cut to under 10 years in part due to their cooperation. The hearing also heard that other defendants’ counsel cited cooperation and assistance to argue for lighter penalties.
Outside the courtroom, supporters gathered early to secure seats in the public gallery. Retiree Simon Ng, a former Apple Daily reader, told reporters that he arrived and waited in line since Friday morning so he could tell Lai he was not alone and that many people support him.
In remarks after Lai’s conviction in December, U.S. President Donald Trump said he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping about Lai and asked to consider his release, while Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said securing Lai’s release is a priority for his government. The court also noted Beijing’s broader stance, including opposition to what it described as smearing of Hong Kong’s judiciary by certain countries, saying judicial authorities perform their duties according to the law.
The hearing continued Monday and was scheduled to run through four days, with Tuesday’s session focusing on Lai’s co-defendants as the court weighs the mitigation arguments.