Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul, was on Monday morning sentenced to 20 years in prison — the harshest penalty ever handed down for a national security offence in the semiautonomous territory.
The High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) sentenced Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai, “an instigator of anti-China riots in Hong Kong”, to 20 years in prison, China-based Xinhua reported.
What is Jimmy Lai accused of?
According to local media, the High Court of the HKSAR last December found Lai guilty of two charges of conspiring to collude with external forces and a charge of conspiracy to publish seditious materials.
"After considering the serious and grave criminal conduct of Lai... the Court was satisfied that the total sentence for Lai in the present case should be 20 years' imprisonment," a summary document from the judges said, as per AFP.
Two of those years will overlap with Lai's existing prison term, meaning that he will serve an additional 18 years, the judges wrote.
Lai was prosecuted under a Hong Kong national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, a year after huge, sometimes violent, pro-democracy protests in the finance hub.
Mitigation hearing for Lai's case began on 12 January and concluded on 13 January.
The defendants in the national security case include Lai, Apple Daily Limited, Apple Daily Printing Limited, and Apple Daily Internet Limited — all facing charges of conspiracy to publish “seditious materials” and “conspiracy to collude with external forces. ”
In July 2020, shortly after the national security law took effect, the same law under which authorities have now convicted him, Lai told The Associated Press: “Hong Kong is dead.”
“If I have to go to prison, I don’t mind. I don’t care,” Lai had said, adding that, “It won’t be something I can worry about, I’ll just relax and do what I have to do.”
'Draconian…Cruel'
The family of Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Lai said on Monday that his 20-year prison sentence under the national security law was "draconian" and "cruel".
"Sentencing my father to this draconian prison sentence is devastating for our family and life-threatening for my father," Lai's son Sebastien said in a statement by the family, according to AFP.
His daughter Claire called it "a heartbreakingly cruel sentence", given his declining health in prison, and if carried out, "he will die a martyr behind bars".
Taiwan condemns 'harsh' sentence
Taiwan's government condemned the "harsh" sentence handed out to Lai and called for his release.
"Jimmy Lai's harsh sentence under Hong Kong's National Security Law not only deprives him of his personal liberty and tramples on freedom of speech and press freedom, but also denies the people's basic right to hold those in power accountable," Taiwan's China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a statement.
(With inputs from agencies)
