The Hong Kong High Court adjourned sentencing Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and eight other defendants, who had been convicted on national security charges, until a future date, after their mitigation arguments were completed on Tuesday.

Lai, founder of the now-defunct tabloid Apple Daily, was convicted on three charges last month under the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region National Security Law.

All nine defendants in the case appeared in the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts for the past two days. They occupied the same seats for both days of the mitigation procedures.

Some of the defendants’ relatives, including Lai’s wife, as well as representatives of foreign diplomatic missions in Hong Kong, were present in court as observers. Lai reportedly placed his hands together and waved to relatives and friends on entering the courtroom.

A large number of police officers were deployed outside the court building.

Lai pleaded for leniency on Monday, as did former Apple Daily publisher Cheung Kim-hung, who had pleaded guilty in previous trials.

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Chan Pui-man, a former associate publisher of Apple Daily, expressed regret for not taking a firmer stance on matters of disagreement at the time in her mitigation plea. She cited severe health issues, which had imposed a significant financial burden, making it difficult for her to resign from the job.

Chan’s lawyer Marco Li Kwok-wai said that Chan spent less time in editorial matters, and was only in charge of the print edition of the newspaper, rather than participating in more influential areas such as online content.

Judge Alex Lee Wan-tang asked whether following Lai’s arrest, Apple Daily employees should have paid more attention to the likelihood that their work violated the HKSAR National Security Law and how Chan could prove that she did not continue the conspiracy.

Li said that Chan had opposed several of Lai’s suggestions, including the content of Lai’s interview program and the content of Lai’s column, but they were not accepted.

The lawyer representing Lam Man-chung, Apple Daily’s former executive editor-in-chief, said that Lam was responsible for the print edition of Apple Daily’s Chinese version only, and was not involved in the English edition or the online content.

Judges Lee, Susana Maria D’Almada Remedios and Esther Toh Lye-ping, also heard the pleas of former editor-in-chief of Apple Daily Law Wai-kwong, former managing editor of the English edition of Apple Daily Fung Wai-kong, and lead editorial writer of Apple Daily Yeung Ching-kee.

Following the conclusion of the mitigation arguments, the three judges adjourned the sentencing to a future date.

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The date will be determined after the three judges have considered the mitigation pleas.

On Dec 15, the High Court found Lai guilty of violating the HKSAR National Security Law on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one of conspiracy to publish seditious materials.

The defendants included Lai and three companies — Apple Daily, Apple Daily Printing and Apple Daily Internet — all of which were charged with conspiracy to publish seditious materials and conspiracy to collude with external forces. Lai faced a separate charge of conspiring to collude with external forces.

According to the HKSAR National Security Law, the offense of colluding with external forces carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Contact the writer at atlasshao@chinadailyhk.com