Hong Kong
–
A Hong Kong court postponed the national security trial hearing of media mogul Jimmy Lye on Friday due to concerns about his health after saying his defense was experiencing heart-moving pit.
Lai, the brand of democratic fire and now shuttered Apple Daily founder, appeared visibly thin and thin on Friday morning to end his debate on his groundbreaking national security incident.
The 77-year-old spent more than 1,600 days at the largest security Hong Kong prison.
Friday’s hearing was already delayed Thursday due to a massive storm, but continued about 15 minutes after the court heard about Rye’s health from his defense team.
Rai’s defense attorney, Robert Pan SC, told the judge that Rai “has some episodes that he felt were falling apart.”
Although Rai has undergone a medical checkup, prison staff have not yet provided him with a halter monitor, a device to record heart activity, Pan said.
Prosecutors said a team of medical professionals were waiting in court on Friday to address LAI’s medical needs.
However, Judge Alex Lee postponed the session on Monday, saying it would be “wise” not to start until Lye’s medical needs are present.
Jimmy Ly’s son Sebastian Ly told CNN before the hearing that he was deeply concerned about his father’s health.
“He’s 77 this year and will be 78 at the end of the year. Incarceration of all kinds is very concerned about his health, so don’t worry about solitary confinement and diabetes,” he said, calling his father’s long solitary confinement “a form of torture.”
“And over the summer, Hong Kong rises to 30 degrees, almost 40 degrees, and he’s in a small concrete cell, so he’s burning there. We’re very concerned about him.”
The Hong Kong government said it is strongly condemning what it calls a “misleading statement” about its treatment of Jimmy Lai in custody.
“The remarks by Sebastien Lai regarding the solitary confinement of Lai Chee-Ying are totally suppressing the facts, reflecting the malicious intent to smear and attack the HKSAR government,” Lai said in a statement.
The closing discussion is expected to take eight days, and it could take weeks or even months before the judge passes their verdict.
A British citizen, Lai is charged with two counts of charges with foreign military, a crime punished by life in prison under Beijing’s 2020 national security law, and another incitement charge. He pleads not guilty to all charges.
The outspoken founder of Apple Daily – the fiercely democratized tabloid newspaper known for years to force the closure of the ferocious broadside against the Chinese Communist Party has become a symbol of Beijing’s sweeping national security crackdown on the former wheel’s financial hub.
US President Donald Trump previously vowed that he had been released and confirmed in a radio interview with Fox News on Thursday that Lye’s ultimate fate was part of his continued negotiations with Beijing.
“I’m going to raise it, and I’ve already lifted it up, and I’m going to do everything I can to save him,” Trump said.
“You can understand, President Xi won’t be exactly excited about doing that,” Trump noted Chinese leader Xi Jinping. “All of that is said, so his name is already in the circle of what we’re talking about. We know what we can do.”
