HONG KONG – A Hong Kong court adjourned a national security trial hearing for media mogul Jimmy Lai on Friday due to concerns about his health, after his defense said he had been experiencing heart palpitations.
Lai, a pro-democracy firebrand and founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily, appeared visibly thinner on Friday morning for the start of closing arguments in his landmark national security case.
The hearing, already delayed on Thursday due to a major rainstorm, lasted roughly 15 minutes after the court was informed of the 77-year-old’s condition by his defense team. Lai’s lawyer, Robert Pang SC, told the judges that Lai had experienced “episodes where he felt he was collapsing” and had been suffering from palpitations. Lai underwent a medical check-up, but prison staff had yet to provide him with medication or a Holter monitor — a device that records heart activity — Pang said.
Prosecutors said a team of medical professionals was on standby at the court on Friday to address Lai’s needs. However, Judge Alex Lee said it was “prudent” not to proceed until those needs had been attended to and adjourned the session until Monday.
Lai’s son, Sebastien Lai, told CNN ahead of the hearing that he was deeply concerned about his father’s deteriorating health. “He’s 77 this year, turning 78 at the end of the year. Any type of incarceration is incredibly worrying for his health — never mind the solitary confinement and the diabetes,” he said, describing the prolonged solitary confinement as “a form of torture.” He added: “During the summer, Hong Kong temperatures go up to 30, almost 40 degrees, and he’s in a little concrete cell, so he bakes in there. We’re incredibly worried about him.”
Lai faces two counts of colluding with foreign forces — a crime punishable by life in prison under the 2020 national security law imposed by Beijing — and a separate sedition charge. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
US President Donald Trump has previously vowed to seek Lai’s release and confirmed in a Fox News Radio interview on Thursday that the case is part of ongoing negotiations with Beijing. “I’m going to be bringing it up — I’ve already brought it up — and I’m going to do everything I can to save him,” Trump said.
“You can also understand, President Xi would not be exactly thrilled by doing it,” Trump added, referring to China’s leader Xi Jinping. “With all of that being said, his name has already entered the circle of things we’re talking about, and we’ll see what we can do.” (CNN)
