Hong Kong judges question Jimmy Lai’s bid for lighter sentence, citing stable health
High Court justices begin hearing arguments on length of sentences to be handed down to Apple Daily founder and eight others
Hong Kong judges in Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s national security trial have questioned whether the former media boss is entitled to a reduced sentence on health or custodial grounds, citing records showing he is in a stable condition and had requested solitary confinement of his own free will.
The three High Court justices on Monday began hearing arguments on the length of the sentences to be handed down to the Apple Daily founder and eight others. The other defendants pleaded guilty before Lai’s conviction for conspiring to collude with foreign forces and to print seditious articles.
But defence lawyer Robert Pang Yiu-hung SC also argued that the former media boss had suffered a harsher time behind bars than others due to his age and isolation from his fellow inmates since his initial incarceration in December 2020.
“He’s 78, in advanced years … A prison sentence would bring him much closer to the end of his life,” the lawyer said.
The Post understands that Lai did not submit any mitigation letters.