A prison van carrying former pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai arrived at a Hong Kong court on Monday where a verdict was expected to be delivered in his national security trial.

Lai is charged with conspiracies to commit sedition and collusion with foreign forces in a case that marks how much the semi-autonomous Chinese city has changed since Beijing began a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent five years ago.

Lai, 78, was arrested in 2020 under a national security law imposed by Chinese authorities to quell the massive anti-government protests that rocked the city in 2019.

His 156-day trial is being closely watched by foreign governments and political observers as a test of the judicial independence and media freedom in the former British colony, which was promised it could maintain its Western-style civil liberties for 50 years after returning to Chinese rule in 1997.

Lai was one of the first prominent figures charged under the National Security Law, which has also been used to prosecute other leading activists and opposition politicians. Beijing deemed the law crucial for the city's stability.

Dozens of civil society groups have closed, as tens of thousands of young professionals and middle-class families emigrated to destinations like Britain, Canada, Taiwan, Australia and the United States.

The security law authorizes a range of sentences depending on the seriousness of the offense and the defendant’s role in it, from three years for the less serious to 10 years to life for people convicted of “grave” offenses.

If Lai is convicted, sentencing is expected on a later day. He can appeal the outcome.