Hong Kong’s High Court concluded the mitigation phase on Tuesday for media mogul and outspoken China critic Jimmy Lai, marking the final step before sentencing in

a high-profile national security trial that has drawn global attention.

Over two days, Lai’s legal team, along with attorneys for eight other defendants—including senior former staffers of his now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper, ‘Apple Daily’—presented arguments for lighter sentences. A date for the sentencing has yet to be announced.

“There are a lot of legal issues, and important questions of law that need to be handled,” said Judge Alex Lee, one of the three-judge panel presiding over the case.

Lai, 78, founder of ‘Apple Daily’, was convicted last month on charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under Hong Kong’s China-imposed national security law and conspiracy to publish seditious materials. He has consistently denied the charges, calling himself a “political prisoner” facing persecution from Beijing.

The trial, which began in December 2023, has kept Lai in solitary confinement for more than 1,800 days. Tuesday’s hearing drew international attention, with diplomats from the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the United States in attendance. Photo by Office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Wikimedia commons.