Click to expand Image Jimmy Lai with a copy of Apple Daily's July 1, 2020, edition in Hong Kong. © 2020 Vincent Yu/AP Photo (New York) – The Hong Kong High Court’s conviction of Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily, is the latest marker of Hong Kong’s dramatic shift from respecting press freedoms to endorsing outright hostility toward the media, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should quash the baseless conviction and immediately release Lai.On December 15, 2025, the High Court found Lai, 78, guilty of two counts of “conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces” under the draconian National Security Law, and one count of “conspiracy to publish seditious publications” under the Crimes Ordinance. He faces a sentence of up to life in prison.“The conviction of Jimmy Lai on bogus charges after five years of solitary confinement is both cruel and a travesty of justice,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Chinese government’s mistreatment of Jimmy Lai aims to silence everyone who dares to criticize the Communist Party.”The court ruled that Lai was the “mastermind” of the alleged conspiracies in all three counts. It said that Lai had conspired with others to commit “foreign collusion” by engaging in “international lobbying” and urging foreign governments to impose “sanctions or blockades, or engage in other hostile activities” against the Chinese government through his writings, talk shows, and media interviews.The court also ruled that Lai had conspired with the advocacy group Stand with Hong Kong, which organized overseas campaigns calling for sanctions against the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities.For the sedition charge, prosecutors claimed that 161 Apple Daily articles, including 33 by Lai, constituted seditious publications because they allegedly fueled public distrust and hatred toward the authorities. The court agreed with the prosecution, ruling that Lai used his “personal influence to carry out a consistent campaign with a view to undermine the legitimacy” of the Chinese and Hong Kong governments.Prosecuting someone for exercising their right to freedom of expression violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is incorporated into Hong Kong’s legal framework via the city’s de facto constitution, the Basic Law, and expressed in the Bill of Rights Ordinance. Hong Kong’s national security legal regime is incompatible with these human rights guarantees.Six former Apple Daily executives and editors had previously pleaded guilty to similar charges in the same case. A hearing to consider mitigating circumstances is scheduled for January 12, 2026, with sentencing to follow. Under article 29 of the National Security Law, those convicted of “foreign collusion” of a “grave nature” face 10 years to life in prison, while others face 3 to 10 years. The “sedition” charge under the Crimes Ordinance carries a maximum of 2 years in prison.Lai’s prosecution was marred by multiple serious violations of fair trial rights, including being tried by judges hand-picked by the Hong Kong government, denied a jury trial, subjected to prolonged pretrial detention, and barred from having counsel of his choice. In 2023, the High Court upheld the government’s decision to bar a British lawyer, Timothy Owen, from representing Lai. Authorities also denied Lai, a British citizen, consular access from the United Kingdom, in violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, to which China is party.Lai is already serving a 5-year and 9-month prison sentence on charges of “fraud” and “participating in an unauthorized assembly.” He suffers from diabetes and has been held in prolonged solitary confinement, a form of torture, since December 2020. His family has repeatedly raised concerns about his deteriorating health, including heart problems and signs of physical decline.Since Beijing imposed the National Security Law on Hong Kong in June 2020, at least 14 independent media outlets have been shuttered, including Apple Daily in June 2021 and Stand News in December 2021. The two influential outlets were forced to close following high-profile police raids and arrests of their editors for national security crimes.Two journalists for Stand News were convicted of “sedition” under the Crimes Ordinance in August 2024. The Hong Kong government has also repeatedly harassed the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association and journalists, demanding back taxes without any evident basis.“Foreign governments should respond to the travesty of Jimmy Lai’s trial by pressing the Hong Kong authorities to quash the case and release him immediately,” Pearson said. “The Chinese and Hong Kong governments should pay a cost for their unrelenting efforts to muzzle Hong Kong’s press.”