HONG KONG: Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced on Monday (Feb 9) to a total of 20 years in jail on national security charges comprising two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one of publishing seditious materials.
The sentence ends a legal saga spanning almost five years, and Hong Kong’s most high-profile national security hearing. Lai, founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, was first arrested in August 2020 and convicted last year.
Lai’s sentence of 20 years was within the most severe penalty “band” of 10 years to life imprisonment for offences of a “grave nature”.
The Hong Kong court said Lai’s sentence was enhanced by the fact that he was the “mastermind” and driving force behind foreign collusion conspiracies.
The 78-year-old, a British citizen, has denied all the charges against him, saying in court he is a “political prisoner” facing persecution from Beijing.
Lai’s plight has been criticised by global leaders, including US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, spotlighting a years-long national security crackdown in the China-ruled Asian financial hub, following mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Lai arrived to court in a white jacket, with hands held together in a praying gesture as he smiled and waved at supporters.
The case has drawn calls for the long-standing critic of the Chinese Communist Party, who friends and supporters say is in frail health, to be freed.
Dozens of Lai’s supporters queued for several days to secure a spot in the courtroom, with scores of police officers, sniffer dogs and police vehicles, including an armoured truck and a bomb disposal van, deployed around the area.
“I feel that Mr Lai is the conscience of Hong Kong,” said a man named Sum, 64, who was in the queue.
“He speaks up for Hong Kong people, and even for many wrongful cases in mainland China and for the development of democracy. So I feel that spending a few days of my own freedom sleeping out here is better than seeing him locked up inside.”
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