A Hong Kong court has sentenced pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison under the Beijing-imposed national security law, a ruling rights groups have condemned as “effectively a death sentence” and a stark marker of the city’s eroding press freedoms.
Lai, a 78-year-old British citizen and founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was convicted in December of colluding with foreign forces by urging overseas governments to impose sanctions on Hong Kong, as well as publishing articles deemed “seditious” by the authorities.
The sentence is the harshest handed down under the national security law since its introduction, exceeding the previous record of 10 years imposed on legal scholar and activist Benny Tai in 2024.
In a summary of their decision, the judges said the 20-year term was imposed after weighing what they described as Lai’s “serious and grave criminal conduct.” They added that two years of the sentence would run concurrently with an existing prison term, leaving Lai to serve an additional 18 years behind bars.
Lai, who has been detained since 2020, remained impassive in the dock as the sentence was delivered, according to an AFP journalist present in the courtroom.
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