Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been found guilty of two counts ofconspiring to collude with foreign forcesand a third count of sedition.
Mr Lai, who is a British citizen, founded and ran the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, one of the only Chinese-language outletsin Hong Kongthat was critical of Beijing.
While delivering the verdict on Monday, the judges said there was "no doubt" that Mr Lai had "harboured his resentment and hatred toward the PRC (People's Republic of China) for many of his adult years."
He could face life in prison.
The collusion charges fall under a national security lawimposed by Chinain 2020 to exercise greater power over Hong Kong, while the sedition charge dates back to legislation from when Hong Kong was a British colony.
The verdicts in the case come as Beijing yields increasing control over Hong Kong and seeks tocrackdown on high-profile critics like Mr Lai.
The media mogul, who turned 78 last week, was first detained in 2020 and has been in jail for more than 1,800 days.
His trial began in December 2023, after a year-long delay, where Mr Lai pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.
Governments around the world had been closely following the case and calling for Mr Lai's release, including President Trump who said earlier this year that he would "do everything" he could to save the Hong Kong mogul.
Sir Keir Starmer had also said that he had raised the case with Xi Jinping, but clearly these efforts weren't successful.
"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, calling for Lai's immediate release.
On Monday the judges in the case said they found Mr Lai guilty on both collusion charges for "international lobbying with a view of soliciting international support" against Hong Kong and Chinese authorities.
The judges also said that they found Mr Lai guilty on the sedition charge for "consciously using" Apple Daily and his own influence to "carry out a consistent campaign with a view to undermine the legitimacy or authority" of authorities.
Hong Kong has a near-100 percent conviction rate for its national security cases, which officials say is evidence of the law's effectiveness. However, rights groups say that it's a tool used by authorities to kowtow to Beijing and silence dissent.
Amnesty International's China Director Sarah Brooks said that "the conviction of Jimmy Lai feels like the death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong, where the essential work of journalism has been rebranded as a crime".
She added: "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."
The Chinese government said it supported Hong Kong's measures to punish crime.
Guo Jiakun, a foreign ministry spokesman, told a press conference: "The central government firmly supports the special administrative region in punishing criminal acts that endanger national security."
Mr Lai was accused of foreign collusion and sedition alongside several other Apple Daily executives, including former editor-in-chief Ryan Law and ex-associate publisher Chan Pui-man.
Former Apple Daily reporter Ronson Chan told the press: "For the past 30 years in Hong Kong, we were able to occupy a very special place. We were able to hold a more critical view of the country and more openly seek democracy in China, and proudly engage in journalism… but I don't think these things will appear again."
In what appears to be a nod to the Apple Daily, a box of apples was anonymously delivered to the West Kowloon Law Court Building, where the verdict was being read out, on Monday morning.
Mr Lai's wife, Teresa Lai, and one of his sons, Lai Shun-yan, arrived together at the courthouse along with the former Bishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen.
Mr Lai waved to his family when they walked in. He didn't appear to respond as the verdict was read but removed his glasses and wiped his face before he left the courtroom.
A mitigation hearing will be held on Jan 12 and is expected to last four days. A date for the sentencing has yet to be announced.
Prior to Monday's verdict, Mr Lai had already been sentenced to more than seven years in prison on four other cases involving unauthorised assembly and fraud.
Mr Lai's family and lawyers have expressed concern over his health, as he suffers from diabetes and a heart condition but is not receiving the treatment he needs while in prison.
His legal team made a fresh appeal in September for the United Nations to intervene after saying they found evidence that Hong Kong authorities were failing to give life-saving treatment to sick prisoners, but little progress was made.
Governments around the world have been closely following the case and calling for Mr Lai's release, including Donald Trump who said earlier this year that he would "do everything" he could to save the Hong Kong mogul.
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