Hong Kong media baron and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in prison
TOPSHOT – Media mogul Jimmy Lai (R) is ordered to remain in jail while judges consider his new bail application as he is loaded into a Hong Kong Department of Corrections van outside the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong on February 1, 2021; It was the first major legal challenge to a sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed on the city last year.
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Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the city’s High Court on Monday in one of the most pivotal cases under the China-imposed national security law that has reshaped the city’s political landscape since 2020.
Lai, the founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, was convicted in December of colluding with foreign powers, endangering national security and conspiring to publish seditious materials. The 78-year-old man has been detained for more than five years. separate prison sentence Fraud accusations.
He faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment under security legislation that Beijing implemented in the Chinese special administrative region following widespread pro-democracy protests in 2019.
The case has drawn international criticism and is seen as a sign of shrinking space for dissent in a region once seen as a bastion of press freedom in Asia.
US President Donald Trump He expressed his sympathy in December As for Lai’s conviction, he said he asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to consider his release, but refrained from taking any new steps to pressure Beijing.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer raised the issue with Xi during his visit to Beijing last month and called for the release of British citizen Lai. In his speech to the British parliament after his trip, Starmer said, “These discussions will continue and the foreign secretary will be in contact with Mr Lai’s family.”
Hong Kong authorities have argued that the case is not aimed at restricting press freedom, saying Lai used news reporting as an excuse to take actions that threaten the security of China and Hong Kong.
Prosecutors accused Lai of conspiring with six former Apple Daily employees, two activists and others to lobby foreign governments to impose sanctions and blockades or engage in hostile activities in Hong Kong.
Lai, a vocal critic of the Chinese government, has pleaded not guilty to charges under the national security law of colluding with foreign forces and conspiring to publish seditious materials.
He was one of the first prominent figures arrested under Beijing’s security law in August 2020. Within a year, several senior Apple Daily journalists were also arrested. The newspaper ceased operations in June 2021 after police arrested more company employees and froze their assets, ending a 26-year streak.
