Jimmy Lai’s conviction condemned as ‘travesty of justice’ that deepens fears over Hong Kong press freedom

British tycoon Jimmy Lai’s conviction in Hong Kong sparked international condemnation on Monday, criticised as a “disgraceful act of persecution”.

The 78-year-old founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily paper was found guilty of sedition on Monday after a marathon trial seen abroad as a test of sweeping political changes in the former British colony.

The UK government called the verdict “politically motivated” and said it would continue to call for Lai’s release. He is due to be sentenced early next week, while Sir Keir Starmer is expected to visit Beijing just a few weeks later.

Lai was found guilty on two counts of “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” under the city’s draconian new national security laws, as well as one count of “sedition” based on statutes dating back to colonial times. It concludes a five-year trial process that was closely watched by foreign powers and rights groups alike.

Hong Kong chief executive John Lee welcomed Lai’s conviction, saying his actions had “damaged the country’s interests and the welfare of Hong Kongers”. Beijing said it should send a “clear message” to the world and warned foreign powers against “smearing” the justice system of Hong Kong in their responses.

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But that has not prevented a torrent of angry reactions to the verdict. In Britain, the country where Lai has held citizenship since 1996 and where his son Sebastien Lai lives while campaigning for his father’s freedom, the government called for his immediate release.

“The UK condemns the politically motivated prosecution of Jimmy Lai that has resulted in today’s guilty verdict,” the Foreign Office said in a statement. “Jimmy Lai has been targeted by the Chinese and Hong Kong governments for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. We continue to call for Mr Lai’s immediate release.”

The Taiwanese government accused China of “exploiting the draconian national security legislation to stifle freedom of speech”.

“This ruling serves as a declaration to the world that Hong Kong’s freedoms, democracy, and judicial independence have been systematically eroded,” it said.

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The British tycoon’s conviction, it added, “has left both Taiwan and the international community deeply distressed and disappointed”.

New Zealand’s foreign ministry called for the protection of human rights and media freedoms in Hong Kong. “Security laws should not be used to suppress independent journalism and Jimmy Lai’s guilty verdict in Hong Kong is a worrying development,” it said. “New Zealand calls for the protection of fundamental human rights, including media freedoms and freedom of speech.”

Ronson Chan, a former employee of Apple Daily and chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, warned that “there won’t be another Jimmy Lai”.

“I hope the country understands that this happened in the past tense, that there won’t be another Jimmy Lai. For the past 30 years in Hong Kong, we were able to occupy a very special place,” he was quoted as saying by Free Hong Kong Press. “We were able to hold a more critical view of the country and more openly seek democracy in China, proudly engage in journalism, but I don’t think these things will appear again.”

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Another former employee, Tammy Cheung, said he was relieved that at least Lai’s months-long trial process was over.

“I felt relieved because this case is coming to an end,” he said in Cantonese. “After the boss, other colleagues could see an end of their trials too.”

Ahead of the ruling, a few activists, including Tsang Kin-shing and Lui Yuk-lin, showed up outside the West Kowloon Magistrates Courts building with an apple, referencing their silent support for the newspaper.

Advocacy and rights groups abroad could be more outspoken in their condemnation.

Human Rights Watch said Lai’s conviction after five years of solitary confinement was “cruel and a travesty of justice”.

“The Chinese government’s mistreatment of Jimmy Lai aims to silence everyone who dares to criticise the Communist Party,” it said. “In the face of the farce of Jimmy Lai’s case, governments should pressure the authorities to withdraw the case and release him immediately. The Chinese and Hong Kong governments should pay the price for the deliberate measures to stifle the Hong Kong press.”

Samuel Bickett, a former director of Democracy Council, an advocacy group based in Washington, said “the judges were putting on a play, but we’d already read the script”.

Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s China director, said the ruling showed how the national security laws were designed to “silence” Hong Kong’s people.

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“This verdict shows that Hong Kong’s so-called 'national security’ laws are not in place to protect people, but to silence them,” she said. “It should also serve as a warning to all people doing business in Hong Kong: that pursuing opportunities in the city comes with severe legal risks.”

“This verdict is not just about one man: it is the latest step in a systematic crackdown on freedom of expression in Hong Kong: targeting not only protests and political parties, but the very idea that people can, indeed, should, hold power to account.”

Exiled Hong Kong activist Samuel Chu said he had personally known Lai as a “man, an editor, a believer, and someone who refused to accept that power should decide what may be said, printed or believed”.

He called the ruling “devastating” but not surprising.

Steve Li, chief superintendent of Hong Kong police’s National Security Department, welcomed the guilty verdict at a press conference on Monday.

He disputed claims of Lai’s worsening health in prison. “Lai’s conviction is justice served,” he told reporters, adding that he was “fabricating news” in the pursuit of “some political goals”.

China’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office expressed support for the ruling, calling Lai a “running dog” and a “lackey” for foreign forces.

“For a long time, Lai opposed China at every turn, colluded with foreign and external forces and committed all manner of wrongdoing against Hong Kong and the country,” the office said.