HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s High Court will on Monday (Jan 12) hear the mitigation plea of pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai, the final step before sentencing in a landmark national security trial that has drawn international condemnation and could see Lai jailed for life.  Lai, 78, was last month found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under a China-imposed national security law, and conspiracy to publish seditious material, ‍in a verdict that was criticised by the ⁠US, ‍Britain, the European Union and others.  Lai has denied all charges.  US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the verdict showed “the enforcement of Beijing’s laws to silence those who seek to protect freedom of speech and other fundamental rights”.  Lai, ⁠a longstanding critic of the Chinese Communist Party and founder of the now shuttered pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, is the most high-profile figure to face ‍prosecution under a years-long national security crackdown in the China-ruled city following mass protests in 2019. The judges wrote that Lai had used his influence and the Apple …