"The 855-page verdict issued more than five years after he was first arrested in 2020 was delivered to a packed courtroom that included Lai's wife, one of his sons, and Cardinal Joseph Zen, who baptized Lai. Judge Esther Toh said Lai had been found guilty on two counts of colluding with foreign forces by seeking out meetings with foreign officials, including with American leaders, and advocating for sanctions on China."
"Pro-democracy activist groups and western governments criticized the verdict, with many including the UK calling for Lai's immediate release. "The Hong Kong court has been compromised and has been politicized in the past five years," said Frances Hui, policy and advocacy coordinator at the pro-democracy advocacy group Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation. "I think this trial or this verdict is another stamp of proof that the court system is no longer the system that we once respected.""
Jimmy Lai was found guilty on all three charges by a Hong Kong national security court after an 855-page verdict issued more than five years following his 2020 arrest. Judge Esther Toh found him guilty on two counts of colluding with foreign forces for seeking meetings with foreign officials, including American leaders, and for advocating sanctions on China, and guilty on a sedition charge under a colonial-era law. Pro-democracy groups and Western governments, including the UK, criticized the verdict and called for his release. A date for sentencing will be announced later and Lai's defense team has not commented. Beijing imposed the national security law after large 2019 anti-government protests; the law has led to hundreds of arrests, penalties up to life in prison, and critics say it has largely silenced dissent, including new charges against activists and prison terms for dozens of lawmakers and activists in 2024.
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