Jimmy Lai: Hong Kong court sentences pro-democracy mogul to 20 years in prison – live updates | Jimmy Lai
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78-year-old Jimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in prison
Jimmy Lai, 78, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts.
Judges enter the courtroom for Jimmy Lai’s sentencing
The judges who oversaw Jimmy Lai’s sentence entered the courtroom.
Jimmy Lai appeared in court for his sentence
Jimmy Lai entered the court for sentencing in the national security case.
Here are some more images from news channels from Hong Kong, where Jimmy Lai is expected to be sentenced soon:
Here are some images of Jimmy Lai at pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong over the years:
Progressing from child laborer to billionaire, Jimmy Lai used his power and wealth to promote democracy, which eventually brought him into conflict with authorities in Beijing.
The Guardian’s Helen Davidson and Amy Hawkins describe Lai’s rise and fall:
Lai’s case was one of the last unfinished national security investigations into Hong Kong’s high-profile activists for their participation in the 2019 protests. Hundreds of activists, lawyers and politicians were pursued, imprisoned or exiled. But few have attracted global attention like Lai. His life and career developed in parallel with Hong Kong’s rapid march towards democracy and its subsequent decline.
“The trajectory of his life reflects the history of Hong Kong itself,” said Australian-Hong Kong lawyer Kevin Yam, who has a Hong Kong arrest warrant for his pro-democracy activism.
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Geneva Abdul
The British son of jailed Hong Kong media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai has criticized the UK government for failing to meet conditions for his father’s release during the prime minister’s visit to China last week.
Speaking at a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday, Sebastien Lai said his father’s imprisonment was not only a matter of humanitarian and national security, but also one in which “our values are locked in” along with him.
These remarks followed the first visit by a British leader to China in eight years; During this trip, Keir Starmer was said to have raised the case against the former media tycoon and one of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy voices.
Weeks before the Prime Minister’s visit, Lai is understood to have met with Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper and discussed her father’s condition, as well as the 78-year-old’s deteriorating health in isolation.
Lai said at a meeting: “If it is so important, then there should definitely be some conditions for my father’s release. It was a big thing that the trip was spared and the embassy was also spared.” All-party parliamentary group on arbitrary detention and hostage situations He listens to his father’s case.
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Here are some images from news channels from Hong Kong, where Jimmy Lai is expected to be sentenced later today:
Opening Summary
Former Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai will be sentenced to prison on Monday, following a months-long trial in which the 78-year-old was convicted of national security crimes.
Lai, a British citizen and founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was convicted last December of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign powers, as well as publishing seditious material.
Esther Toh, one of three government-supervised national security judges who oversaw Lai’s trial, wrote at the time of the verdict: “There is no doubt in our minds that the first defendant never wavered in his intention to destabilize the CCP’s rule. [Chinese Communist party]and he intended to continue, albeit in a less overt manner, despite the enactment of the national security law.”
Lai, a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party, was arrested in August 2020 after Beijing imposed a national security law in Hong Kong in response to the city’s pro-democracy protests at the time.
Lai’s arrest and conviction were widely monitored and criticized by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.
In December, US President Donald Trump called on Chinese President Xi Jinping to “consider” releasing Lai, saying: “I feel very bad… He’s an old man and he’s not well. So I made that request. Let’s see what happens, okay?” Meanwhile, after returning from a trip to China last month, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the British parliament: “I raised the case of Jimmy Lai and called for his release.”
Stay tuned as we bring you the latest updates on Lai’s sentencing.
