TOP SHOT – Media mogul Jimmy Lai (right) is escorted into a Hong Kong Correctional Service van outside the Hong Kong Court of Appeal on February 1, 2021, after being ordered detained while a judge considers a new bail application. This is the first major legal challenge to the sweeping national security law that the Chinese government imposed on Hong Kong last year.
Stra | AFP | Getty Images
Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was sentenced on Monday to 20 years in prison in one of the most high-profile prosecutions under the China-imposed national security law that has transformed Hong Kong’s political landscape since 2020.
“After stepping back and evaluating the total sentence for Mr. Lai’s serious and serious criminal conduct, we are satisfied that Mr. Lai’s total sentence in this case should be 20 years in prison,” the city’s high court said in its ruling.
Lai, the founder of the now-defunct newspaper Apple Daily, was found guilty in December of charges including colluding with foreign forces, endangering national security and colluding to publish inflammatory material. The 78-year-old has been in custody for more than five years while serving a separate prison sentence for fraud.
The 20-year sentence was the longest sentence given under the national security law introduced in 2020, exceeding the 10-year sentence given to former law professor and activist Benny Tai, who was convicted in November 2024 of conspiracy to subvert state power.
“Such a sentence is cruel and deeply unjust,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Mr. Li was one of the first celebrities arrested in August 2020 under the law on maintaining public order that the Chinese government implemented in China’s special administrative regions following widespread pro-democracy protests in 2019.
The paper ceased operations in June 2021 after police arrested more employees and froze its assets, ending 26 years of operation.
Lai’s case has drawn international criticism and is seen as a sign that space for dissent is shrinking in a region once seen as a bastion of press freedom in Asia.
US President Donald Trump in December expressed sympathy for Lai’s conviction and asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to consider his release, but said he had not taken any new action to pressure Beijing.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer raised Mr. Xi’s case during a visit to Beijing last month, calling for the release of Mr. Lai, a British national. “These discussions will continue and the Foreign Secretary is in contact with Mr Lai’s family,” Starmer told Parliament after the visit.
Taiwan’s government said in a statement on Monday that the ruling was “harsh” and a “trampling on freedom of speech and press”, denying the people’s fundamental right to “hold those in power accountable”.
Hong Kong authorities have argued that the lawsuit is not aimed at curbing press freedom, accusing Mr. Lai of using his reporting as a pretext to commit acts that threaten the security of China and Hong Kong.
Prosecutors accused Mr. Lai of colluding with six former Apple Daily employees and two activists to encourage foreign governments to impose sanctions or blockades or participate in hostile activities in Hong Kong.
Lai, a vocal critic of the Chinese government, had pleaded not guilty to two charges under the National Security Law: conspiracy with foreign forces and conspiracy to publish inflammatory materials.
— CNBC’s Hikmah Md Ali and Elaine Yu contributed to this report.
