Hong Kong’s community has stepped up calls for the High Court to impose severe penalties when it delivers sentences on former media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and eight other defendants on Monday, saying that punishing acts that endanger national security is fundamental to upholding the city's rule of law.

The High Court found Lai guilty of violating the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s National Security Law on Dec 15 last year on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one of conspiracy to publish seditious materials.

Lai began his mitigation on Jan 12 in the first trial under the SAR’s NSL for colluding with foreign forces – an offense that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Legislator and solicitor Holden Chow Ho-ding said Lai had used his former newspaper Apple Daily to incite hatred for the nation and widen rifts between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong. He noted that some Western voices have whitewashed Lai’s acts and accused the SAR of suppressing press freedom, ignoring the need to protect security and stability.

These facts, he said, are widely recognized across Hong Kong society which supports the guilty verdict against Lai.

RELATED ARTICLES

• Convicted mogul Jimmy Lai begins four-day mitigation in good health
• The real story behind Jimmy Lai's trial
• What Western legal history tells us about Jimmy Lai’s case
• Pundit: Jimmy Lai not a ‘freedom fighter’, but a pawn

Lawmaker Nixie Lam Lam said Monday’s sentencing will be a clear statement of Hong Kong’s commitment to safeguard national security and the rule of law. She hopes it will send a stern warning to all who seek to endanger national security and undermine the SAR's stability, adding that the legal red lines cannot be crossed, and anyone threatening its social order and security will have to face the consequences.

Lawmaker and solicitor Maggie Chan Man-ki said the 156 day open trial has demonstrated that the court’s guilty verdict was based on substantial testimonial and material evidence, confirming the severity and weight of the charges.

Lawmaker Kingsley Wong Kwok, who chairs the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, said the rule of law is the “cornerstone” of Hong Kong’s prosperity, stability and secure development. He fully supports the judicial authorities in exercising their independent adjudicative power under the law to defend Hong Kong’s legal order.

He emphasized that Hong Kong and its people’s homes can only be secure when national security is firmly protected. Safeguarding national security, he added, means safeguarding Hong Kong's prosperity and stability, protecting the interests of foreign investors, and upholding the rights and well-being of all residents.

Hong Kong’s pro-business Liberal Party has condemned what it calls the double standards of certain Western politicians and media.

It accused them of hypocritically chanting for respect for the rule of law while, in fact, meddling in Lai’s case and peddling false claims about his health and prison conditions to sway the court and deceive the public.

The Liberal Party, along with several other groups like the Hong Kong Legal Professionals Association and the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong, have voiced unequivocal support for the judiciary to sentence offenders in strict accordance with the law.