HONG KONG — Jimmy Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday, concluding one of the most significant trials under the city’s national security law. A panel of three government-vetted High Court judges handed down the sentence at the West Kowloon Court, ruling that Lai was the “mastermind” behind a conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and publish seditious material.
The court found Lai guilty in December of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security and one count of conspiracy to publish seditious publications. In their written judgment, Judges Esther Toh, Susana D’Alamada Remedios, and Alex Lee stated that Lai had “harboured his resentment and hatred” of the central government for years and had leveraged his media empire to influence public opinion and court foreign sanctions against Hong Kong and Chinese officials.
The 20-year term is one of the harshest penalties delivered since Beijing imposed the sweeping national security legislation in 2020 following months of anti-government protests. The judges ordered that 18 years of the sentence run consecutively with a previous sentence Lai was already serving for fraud, effectively meaning the media tycoon faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life behind bars.
Lai, a British citizen and one of the most prominent critics of the Chinese Communist Party, appeared calm as the sentence was read. He has been held in solitary confinement since late 2020. His newspaper, Apple Daily, was forced to close in June 2021 after police raided its newsroom and froze its assets, arresting several top executives. Six of those former executives, who pleaded guilty to reduced charges and testified during the trial, received jail terms ranging from six to ten years on Monday.
The sentencing has drawn immediate condemnation from Western governments and international human rights organizations. The United States and the United Kingdom have previously described the prosecution as politically motivated and a blow to press freedom in the financial hub. British officials had called for Lai’s immediate release, citing his deteriorating health and British citizenship.
In contrast, Beijing and Hong Kong authorities have staunchly defended the proceedings, asserting that the trial strictly followed the rule of law. A spokesperson for the Hong Kong government reiterated that the national security law is necessary to restore stability and that all individuals are equal before the law, regardless of their background or profession.
The conclusion of Lai’s trial marks a pivotal moment for Hong Kong’s media landscape. Once known as a bastion of press freedom in Asia, the city has seen its ranking in global press freedom indices plummet following the introduction of the security law and the closure of independent outlets like Apple Daily and Stand News. Legal experts suggest that the severity of Lai’s sentence serves as a stark warning regarding the consequences of violating the new security parameters.
