HONG KONG — A lawyer representing Jimmy Lai said Wednesday it was “not wrong to support freedom of expression” as the defence began closing arguments in the jailed Hong Kong media mogul’s national security trial.

The 77-year-old founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper has contested two counts of foreign collusion, with authorities accusing him of using various platforms to lobby Western nations to sanction China and Hong Kong.

The charges are brought under the city’s national security law, which Beijing imposed in 2020 after the finance hub saw huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests the year before.

Defence lawyer Robert Pang told the court it was “not wrong” to support freedom of expression and human rights.

“It is not wrong to try to persuade the government to change its policy... Nor is it wrong not to love a particular administration, or even the country,” he added.

Aside from the collusion offence — which could land him in prison for life — Lai is also charged with “seditious publication” related to 161 articles, including op-eds carrying his byline.

Pang began his closing arguments by pointing to three Apple Daily news articles that prosecutors deemed seditious.

“It’s factual reporting,” he said, adding that the 161 items made up a tiny fraction of the newspaper’s output.

But judge Esther Toh countered that it was “pointless” to play a numbers game, adding that the judges had already gone through the articles carefully.