A rags-to-riches tycoon, Hong Kong media boss Jimmy Lai is a self-styled “troublemaker” who has long been a thorn in Beijing’s side with his caustic tabloids and unapologetic support for democracy.The 78-year-old was found guilty on Monday on three charges in his national security trial widely condemned by Western nations as an attack on political liberties and press freedoms.Lai told AFP in June 2020 he was “prepared for prison”, where he has been held since late that year.Those remarks came two weeks before Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the finance hub after huge, and sometimes violent, pro-democracy protests the previous year.He was arrested under the new security law that August, fulfilling his prediction that he was a prime target for prosecution.”If (prison) comes, I will have the opportunity to read books I haven’t read. The only thing I can do is to be positive,” he said at the time.Few Hong Kongers generate the same level of vitriol from Beijing as Lai.He is an unlikely hero for many in the semi-autonomous city: a pugnacious, self-made tabloid owner and the only tycoon willing to lampoon Beijing.But according to China’s state media, he is a “traitor”, the biggest “black hand” behind the pro-democracy protests and the head of a new “Gang of Four” conspiring with foreign nations to undermine the motherland.- Tiananmen watershed -Lai rose from poverty, like many Hong Kong tycoons.He was born into a wealthy family in mainland China’s Guangdong province, but they lost their fortune when the communists took power in 1949.Smuggled into Hong Kong aged 12, Lai toiled in sweatshops, taught himself English and eventually founded the hugely successful Giordano clothing empire.His path diverged from his contemporaries when China sent tanks to crush protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989.He founded his first publication shortly after and wrote columns critical of senior Chinese leaders.Authorities began closing his mainland clothing stores, so Lai sold up and ploughed the money into a tabloid empire.Lai was the subject of other lawsuits, including one where he was acquitted of intimidating a journalist from a rival newspaper.But his embrace of 2019’s pro-democracy movement landed him in deeper trouble and he was jailed for 20 months over his participation in some rallies.An additional fraud case over an office lease added almost six more years to his sentence.Those cases pale in comparison to Monday’s verdicts.Lai was found guilty on two counts of “conspiracy to foreign collusion” under the national security law — with a maximum penalty of life in prison — and one count of “conspiracy to publish seditious publications”.He pleaded not guilty to all charges.Asked why he did not keep quiet and enjoy his wealth like Hong Kong’s other tycoons, Lai said in 2020 he “just fell into it, but it feels right doing it”.”Maybe I’m a born rebel, maybe I’m someone who needs a lot of meaning to live my life besides money,” he said.- ‘Delivering freedom’ -Lai also said then he had no plans to leave Hong Kong despite his wealth and the risks he faced.”I’m a troublemaker. I came here with nothing, the freedom of this place has given me everything. Maybe it’s time I paid back for that freedom by fighting for it,” he said.Lai’s two primary publications — the Apple Daily newspaper and the digital-only Next magazine — openly backed democracy protests in a city where competitors either support Beijing or tread a far more cautious line.The two publications were largely devoid of advertisements for years as brands steered clear of incurring Beijing’s wrath. Lai plugged the losses with his own cash.They were popular, offering a heady mix of celebrity news, sex scandals and genuine investigations.Apple Daily was forced to close in 2021 after police raids and the arrests of senior editors. Next also closed. Lai defended his paper during more than 40 days of spirited courtroom testimony.”The core values of Apple Daily are actually the core values of the people of Hong Kong… (including) rule of law, freedom, pursuit of democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly,” he told the court in November 2024.”To participate in delivering freedom is a very good idea for me,” Lai said. “The more you are in the know, the more you are free.”

Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was found guilty Monday on three national security charges, a conviction rights groups denounced as a death knell for press freedoms in the Chinese financial hub.Prosecutors said Lai was the mastermind behind two conspiracies to ask foreign countries to take action against Hong Kong or China, and accused him of publishing materials they said “excited disaffection” against the government.The 78-year-old, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, now faces a maximum penalty of life in prison when he is sentenced. He can appeal Monday’s convictions.”There is no doubt that (Lai) had harboured his resentment and hatred of the PRC for many of his adult years,” Judge Esther Toh told the court, referring to the People’s Republic of China.”His constant invitation to the US to help bring down the Government of the PRC with the excuse of helping the people of HK would be analogous to the situation where an American national asks for help from Russia to bring down the US Government under the guise of helping the State of California.”Lai, wearing a light green cardigan and grey jacket, looked impassive as he listened to the verdicts with folded arms, and did not speak.As he left, he nodded to his wife Teresa and his son Lai Shun-yan, who were sitting in the public gallery, an AFP reporter inside the court saw.His defence lawyer Robert Pang told reporters as he left court that Lai “is in fine spirits”.Dozens of police officers were deployed around around the West Kowloon court in the morning, with an armoured car positioned nearby.Consular representatives, including those from the United States, the European Union and France, were among those in attendance, as well as veterans from Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp, including Cardinal Joseph Zen and former legislator Emily Lau.- ‘Death knell for press freedom’ -The founder of the now-shut Apple Daily newspaper has been behind bars since 2020.His case has been widely criticised as an example of eroding political freedoms under the national security law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong following huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.”The predictability of today’s verdict does not make it any less dismaying — the conviction of Jimmy Lai feels like the death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong,” Amnesty International said in a statement.Reporters Without Borders called the “unlawful conviction” illustrative of “the alarming deterioration of media freedom in the territory”, while the Committee to Protect Journalists called it a “sham conviction” and “a disgraceful act of persecution”.Beijing, meanwhile, said Friday it “firmly supports” Hong Kong in “safeguarding national security” from criminal acts.Lai once described himself as a “born rebel” and defied the Chinese Communist Party for years while amassing millions from his clothing and media empires.The 78-year-old is a British citizen, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces pressure from rights groups to secure his release.Before Monday’s verdict, another former Apple Daily employee surnamed Chan recalled that Lai wished for a “free and democratic China”.”He loved the country a lot, he just didn’t love the regime. (The situation) is absurd,” Chan told AFP outside court.- Health concerns -Lai looked thinner than when he first entered custody, and some of the dozens of supporters who gathered at dawn in front of the court expressed concern for his wellbeing.”I really want to see what’s happening with ‘the boss’, to see if his health has deteriorated,” said Tammy Cheung, who worked at Lai’s newspaper for nearly two decades.Lai’s family recently said he had lost weight and had visible decay to his nails and teeth since his long imprisonment.His daughter Claire told AFP last week that Lai, a diabetic, had “lost a very significant amount of weight” and showed nail and teeth decay.National security police chief superintendant Steve Li told a press conference on Monday that Claire Lai’s concerns as to her father’s health were smearing.Authorities have said Lai was receiving “adequate and comprehensive” care, and that he had been held in solitary confinement “at his own request”.- Sprawling trial -Prosecutors cited 161 items Apple Daily published in their case against Lai.Those items, including opinion articles with Lai’s byline and talk shows he hosted, were deemed seditious under a colonial-era law because they “excited disaffection” against the government.Prosecutors also accused Lai of being the mastermind and financial backer of the protest group “Stand with Hong Kong, Fight for Freedom”.Lai countered that he had never sought to influence other countries’ foreign policies, saying Apple Daily represented Hongkongers’ core values: “rule of law, freedom, pursuit of democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly”.Apple Daily was forced to close in 2021 following police raids. Six top executives were charged as co-defendants and have already pleaded guilty.