Democracy activist Jimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in prison

Jimmy Lai

78-year-old Hong Kong publisher sentenced to 20 years in prison

It is a process that has received a lot of international attention and that critics classify as politically motivated. A Hong Kong court imposes a long prison sentence on 78-year-old media mogul Jimmy Lai.

A Hong Kong court has sentenced media mogul and democracy activist Jimmy Lai to a lengthy prison sentence of 20 years. The 78-year-old was convicted in December of conspiring to cooperate with foreign forces and publishing seditious publications.

At worst, he faced a life sentence. Critics viewed the trial as politically motivated and a further sign of the dismantling of press freedom and political freedoms in China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The process has also attracted great international attention since it began in December 2023. Lai has always denied the allegations against him. He has been in prison since 2021 after the judiciary previously sentenced him to two prison terms in other cases.

The publisher also holds a British passport and is the founder of the pro-democracy Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily. The paper was forced to shut down in 2021 after authorities in the former British crown colony investigated alleged violations of national security law.

The security law in Hong Kong is aimed at the pro-democracy opposition as well as activities that Beijing’s authoritarian leadership considers subversive, separatist, terrorist or conspiratorial. It came into force in 2020 in response to large demonstrations for more democracy. Internationally, the law that restricts civil liberties in the Chinese Special Administrative Region is very controversial.

Lai’s defense had recently tried to have his sentence reduced. According to media reports, the main issue was the defendant’s state of health. Lai’s defense attorney Robert Pang argued his client’s health problems such as high blood pressure and diabetes. The prosecution, however, dismissed concerns that Lai’s condition was deteriorating in prison and said he was in a “stable” condition.

The process had repeatedly triggered international criticism. It is time for democracies to pressure Beijing to release Lai immediately, the organization Reporters Without Borders demanded before the sentence was announced. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump in particular should support this, they say. Trump said during the campaign that he wanted to get Lai out of prison. Great Britain also criticized the proceedings against the devout Catholic.

The Hong Kong government rejects the accusation of a politically motivated trial and emphasizes that the trial has nothing to do with freedom of the press, but rather serves to enforce applicable law.