Hong Kong’s pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai will be sentenced on Monday for national security offenses that could see him jailed for life, with some rights groups and Western countries still calling for his release.
Hong Kong’s pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai spent more than five years behind bars as his trial progressed. (AFP)The 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper was convicted in December of two counts of foreign collusion under a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing, as well as one count of seditious publication.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he raised the issue of British national Lai during a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing last month, adding that the discussion was “respectful”.
US President Donald Trump has also called for Lai’s release.
Lai will be sentenced in an hour-long hearing before three High Court judges starting at 10 a.m. (0200 GMT), according to the Justice Department.
He has already spent more than five years in prison pending trial.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement ahead of Monday’s sentencing that Lai’s trial “has been nothing more than a charade from the start and shows a complete disregard for Hong Kong’s laws that are supposed to protect press freedom”.
Reporters Without Borders said Mogul’s sentence “will resonate far beyond Jimmy Lai himself, sending a decisive signal about the future of press freedom in the territory”.
Beijing has blasted critics as abuses of Hong Kong’s judicial system, while Hong Kong authorities said Lai’s case had “nothing to do with freedom of speech and the press”.
severe punishmentLong a thorn in Beijing’s side, Lai was tried under a Hong Kong national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, a year after massive and sometimes pro-democracy protests in the financial center.
The judges said in their verdict in December that Lai had “nursed his resentment and hatred of (China) for many years in his adulthood” and sought “the downfall of the Chinese Communist Party”.
On Monday, they are first expected to decide whether Lai’s conspiracy crimes were of a “serious nature” and, if so, a prison term of between 10 years and life.
The colonial-era offense of seditious publication carries a maximum sentence of two years.
Li will be sentenced along with eight co-defendants, including six Apple Daily executives, all of whom have pleaded guilty.
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Apple Daily was forced to close in 2021 after a police raid.
According to local media, Lai did not submit a letter to the court arguing for leniency in sentencing.
His defense lawyer Robert Pang told the court that a longer prison term would be “harsh” given Lai’s age and physical condition.
“Every day (Lai) spends in prison will bring him that much closer to the end of his life,” Pang said at the time.
Prosecutors cited in response a prison medical report that Lai’s “general health condition is stable” and that he had no complaints after being treated for heart, tooth and nail problems.
Ly was held in solitary confinement at his own request to avoid harassment, prosecutors said.
Her two children have raised concerns about her health in recent months, but authorities said Lai received “adequate and comprehensive” care.
