Jimmy Lai supporters queue outdoors Hong Kong court docket forward of verdict | Freedom of the Press News | USAEMALL.com

Media mogul Lai was arrested in 2020 under a national security law imposed by China.

Supporters of Hong Kong democracy activist and media mogul Jimmy Lai have begun queuing overnight outside a Hong Kong court ahead of a verdict in his lengthy trial.

The verdict will be delivered by a three-judge panel in a hearing that begins at 10am local time (02:00 GMT) on Monday and comes amid international calls to release Lai, who has already spent five years in jail.

On Sunday night, Lai’s supporters formed a queue more than a block long outside the courthouse. Some even had camping gear as they tried to secure a spot among the 507 tickets to the courthouse — 58 tickets are for Lai’s courtroom and the rest are for viewing in a separate overflow room by video link.

Dozens of police officers have been deployed around the area in preparation for Monday’s verdict.

Lai, 78, the multi-millionaire founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, was arrested in 2020 under a national security law imposed by Chinese authorities to quell anti-government protests that rocked Hong Kong in 2019.

Lai’s family says his health has worsened after more than 1,800 days in solitary confinement, and that he suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and heart palpitations.

Earlier this month, his daughter Claire Lai told the AFP news agency in Washington, DC that her father has lost “a very significant amount of weight” and noted that he has become “a lot weaker than he was before.”

“His nails turn almost purple, grey and greenish before they fall off, and his teeth are getting rotten,” she added.

Countries including the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as rights groups, have said Lai’s 156-day trial is politically motivated and have called for his immediate release.

US President Donald Trump also raised Lai’s case with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a meeting in South Korea in October and has said he would do his utmost to “save” Lai.

But Beijing has called Lai “an agent and pawn of anti-China foreign forces”, describing him as the main planner behind disruptive activities in the city.

The Chinese and Hong Kong governments have also said the tycoon is receiving a fair trial and that the national security law treats all equally. They say no freedoms are absolute when it comes to safeguarding national security.

“Jimmy Lai has endured five years in prison under appalling conditions simply for doing his job as a founder of one of the most renowned and independent media outlets in Hong Kong,” the media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.

“The trial can only be described as a sham and has nothing to do with the rule of law.”

After Monday’s verdict, if Lai is convicted, he could be sentenced in the near future. He can, however, appeal the outcome.