Years in prison for Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai

Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison for fraud. He is also fined around a quarter of a million euros for allegedly falsifying the leases of his companies.

Lai, 75, owned the now defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. He was already serving a 20-month sentence after being found partially guilty of the fraud allegations in October.

Moreover, Lai became December last year already sentenced to months in prison for attending a commemoration of the 1989 Chinese student uprising. There is also a charge against him due to national security law which was introduced in Hong Kong in 2020 to suppress dissent. Formally, Lai is suspected of “collusion with foreign powers”.

Lai could be sentenced to life in prison in the latter case for refusing to compromise with the prosecutor. This trial was supposed to start on December 1, but has been postponed because Lai wants to hire a foreign lawyer. Hong Kong refuses to allow this on national security grounds, but an official decision has yet to be made.

The media mogul is the most prominent member of the former British crown colony’s pro-democracy movement to face trial. Lai has openly criticized the restriction of civil rights there. He called China’s covid measures an excuse for the crackdown and called on foreign countries to stand up against Beijing.