Beijing Uses National Security Law to Jail Pro-Democracy Media Mogul Jimmy Lai for 20 Years

A Hong Kong High Court panel on Feb. 9 sentenced pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison.

“Former Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai was sentenced to long prison terms after a government‑vetted panel of judges found him the mastermind of conspiracies under Hong Kong’s national security law”

ABC News

He had been convicted in December of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of conspiracy to publish seditious materials under the city's 2020 national security law.

ABC News

Judges described Lai's conduct as grave, placed him in the highest penalty band (10 years to life) and said his role as the alleged mastermind warranted a heavy term.

Because Lai was already serving a separate fraud sentence, the court ordered 18 of the new 20 years to run consecutively with that earlier term, a combination widely reported as likely to keep the 78-year-old behind bars for the rest of his life.

The verdict followed a lengthy, high-profile trial that the court detailed in an extensive written judgment.

The judgment cited hundreds of articles, meetings and overseas outreach as evidence.

ABC News

Prosecutors relied on Apple Daily content, reportedly more than 160 pieces, and records of contacts with foreign figures to argue Lai used his media platform to solicit sanctions and other measures.

Judges and prosecutors portrayed that constellation of activity as organised and deliberate.

The defence repeatedly denied that Lai sought punitive sanctions after the national security law came into force and asked for leniency on age and health grounds.

Lai’s defence and multiple rights organisations highlighted his age, chronic illnesses and long periods in solitary confinement when seeking mercy.

“Human rights groups and several foreign governments condemned the heavy prison sentence given to 78‑year‑old Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai — a British citizen — saying it signals a broader crackdown on dissent and press freedom”

ABC News

They warned the 20-year term could be 'effectively a death sentence' for a 78-year-old with diabetes, high blood pressure and other ailments.

Reporters Without Borders, Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the length of the term and described the sentence as a watershed for press freedom in the city.

Western governments and other foreign actors reacted sharply.

UK officials described the sentence as tantamount to a life term and urged humanitarian release; several governments and international bodies, including the EU, the US, Australia and Taiwan, condemned the verdict and urged review or release.

ABC News

Some reports say UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer raised Lai’s case with China’s Xi Jinping, and U.S. lawmakers and rights advocates vowed further diplomatic and potentially legislative responses.

Beijing and its local supporters presented a starkly different narrative: official and pro-Beijing outlets praised the verdict as a firm defence of national security and public order, portraying Lai's media activity and overseas contacts as unlawful attempts to solicit foreign interference.

“Supporters at a sentencing hearing vowed to keep fighting — “We will never stop fighting until he is free,” one said — as police detained a woman outside West Kowloon court for possessing an Apple Daily keychain and searched at least two other activists, including veteran democrat Tsang Kin-shing, the Hong Kong Free Press reported”

Al Jazeera

That narrative stresses judicial process and the scope of the alleged offending, while international observers say the sentence formalises red lines that will chill independent journalism in Hong Kong.

Al Jazeera