Jailed Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai's national security trial, which began in late 2023, will enter its final stages on Thursday as lawyers present closing arguments.

The 77-year-old founder of the Apple Daily newspaper is charged with foreign collusion under Hong Kong's national security law, which Beijing imposed following huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Lai has been kept behind bars since December 2020, reportedly in solitary confinement, with Western nations and rights groups calling for his release.