China critic Jimmy Lai jailed 20 years in landmark Hong Kong case
Hong Kong media tycoon and prominent China critic Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in the city’s most high profile national security case. The ruling caps a legal battle that has lasted nearly five years and has drawn widespread international concern. Lai, the 78 year old founder of the now closed pro democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was convicted on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of publishing seditious materials. The judges said his offences fell within the harshest penalty tier for national security crimes of a grave nature. The court described Lai as the mastermind of what it called persistent collusion conspiracies seeking sanctions, blockades and other hostile acts against China by foreign governments, including the United States. Prosecutors said the network behind him involved Apple Daily staff, activists and […]
