A prison van carrying former pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai arrived at a Hong Kong court on Monday where a verdict was expected to be delivered in his national security trial.

He attributed his rags-to-riches ascent to the freedoms of Hong Kong, and has paid a hefty price for defending them.

Mr Lai’s case looks likely to establish new precedents both legally and socially. The party’s control centres on a national-security law ( NSL ). It was promulgated by the national parliament in Beijing in 2020 in the wake of the unrest in Hong Kong the year before.

Daughter of imprisoned Catholic activist Jimmy Lai spoke out for the first time ahead of her father’s 78th birthday.