Hong Kong (AFP) - Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was found guilty on all three charges in his national security trial on Monday, convictions that rights groups denounced as the 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 material that “excited disaffection” against the government.

The 78-year-old, who pleaded not guilty, faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced. He can appeal against the convictions.

“There is no doubt that (Lai) had harboured his resentment and hatred of the PRC,” Judge Esther Toh told the court, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

She said he had invited the United States “to help bring down” the Chinese government, “with the excuse of helping the people of HK”.

Lai is a British citizen, and the UK government condemned his “politically motivated prosecution” in a statement that called for his release.

The media mogul, wearing a light green cardigan and grey jacket, listened impassively as the verdicts were read out.

He nodded to his wife Teresa and his son Lai Shun-yan in the public gallery as he left the court, an AFP reporter saw.

Defence lawyer Robert Pang told reporters that Lai was “in fine spirits” and that they would need to read the 886-page verdict before deciding on their next steps.

Lai’s other son Sebastien urged Britain to “do more” to help free his father.

“It’s time to put action behind words and make my father’s release a pre-condition to closer relationships with China,” he told a press conference in London.

US, EU and French consular representatives were in court, as well as veterans from Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp, including Cardinal Joseph Zen and former legislator Emily Lau.

The European Union said the conviction was “emblematic of the erosion of democracy and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong since the imposition of the National Security Law”, imposed by Beijing after huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Beijing hit back at the international criticism, saying it opposed the “smearing of the judicial system in Hong Kong by certain countries”.

- ‘Dismaying’ -

Lai, who founded 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.

“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.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association described a Hong Kong media climate of self-censorship and fear.

Eric Lai, a research fellow in Asian law at Georgetown University, said the verdict vindicated concerns about a fair trial because “most of Jimmy Lai’s acts related to foreign forces were carried out before the (security law) was enacted”.

Beijing’s national security agency in Hong Kong and its Liaison Office in the city both called Lai a “pawn” for anti-China forces.

A former Apple Daily employee surnamed Chan recalled before the verdicts were delivered that Lai wished for a “free and democratic China”.

“He loved the country a lot, he just didn’t love the regime,” Chan told AFP.

Lai looked thinner on Monday than when he first entered custody, an AFP reporter saw, and some of his supporters who gathered at dawn in front of the court expressed concern for his well-being.

“I really want to see what’s happening with ‘the boss’,” said Tammy Cheung, who worked at Lai’s newspaper for nearly two decades.

- Health concerns -

Lai’s daughter Claire told AFP last week that her father, a diabetic, had “lost a very significant amount of weight” and showed signs of nail and tooth decay.

National security police chief superintendent Steve Li said her concerns 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”.

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 maintained that he never sought to influence other countries’ foreign policies, saying Apple Daily represented Hongkongers’ core values, including “rule of law, freedom, pursuit of democracy”.

Apple Daily was forced to close in 2021 following police raids. Six top executives were charged as co-defendants and have already pleaded guilty.