Hong Kong —

The judges in the trial of Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai on Thursday retired to consider their verdict on three national security charges that could see the 77-year-old pro-democracy firebrand jailed for life.

Lai, the outspoken founder of the Apple Daily – a tabloid newspaper known for blistering broadsides against the Chinese Communist party – has become a symbol of Beijing’s sweeping national security crackdown on Hong Kong.

He is accused of using the now-shuttered Apple Daily to call for sanctions against Hong Kong and China during the huge anti-government protests that roiled the finance hub in 2019 and after the law was introduced the following year.

Lai pleaded not guilty to a sedition charge and two counts of colluding with foreign forces, a crime punishable by

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