The defence team for jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai opened its closing arguments on 20 August, telling the city’s High Court that it is “not wrong to support freedom of expression.” Lawyer Robert Pang urged the three-judge panel to view Lai’s public advocacy and contacts with overseas figures as legitimate exercises of free speech rather than criminal collusion. Lai, founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, faces two counts of conspiring to collude with foreign forces and a further charge of conspiring to publish seditious material under Beijing’s 2020 National Security Law and colonial-era legislation. The 76-year-old entrepreneur could receive a life sentence if convicted. Prosecutors, led by Anthony Chau, concluded their case earlier this week, portraying Lai as the “mastermind” of a campaign that urged foreign governments to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and mainland officials. They cited articles, open letters and social-media posts by advocacy groups as evidence that the lobbying continued after the security law took effect. The trial, which began in December 2024 and is being heard without a jury, is one of the most closely watched cases brought under the sweeping security statute. A verdict is expected later this year.