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Hong Kong authorities have sentenced former media mogul Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison, ending a lengthy legal process that has become a symbol of the profound political changes in the territory after 2020.
Jimmy Lai, 78, the billionaire businessman and founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily, has been handed the longest sentence yet under Beijing's national security law in Hong Kong. The ruling means he will not be eligible for parole until his late 90s.
Lai was one of the most prominent critics of the Chinese government and a prominent figure in the city's pro-democracy camp. He was found guilty in December of two national security offences and one sedition charge after a trial that lasted several years.
The sentence is expected to increase international pressure on Beijing. Lai's case has been closely watched by Western leaders, including US President Donald Trump, who has previously said he would intervene to have him removed from Hong Kong. Criticism has also been directed at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who visited China just days before the sentence was announced.
Trump is expected to visit China in the coming months to meet with President Xi Jinping. Lai's supporters intend to demand that his case be raised at that meeting. The convict's family has reacted strongly to the decision, describing it as extreme and with serious consequences for his health, which they say has deteriorated during his time in prison.
Lai's public activity, including contacts with senior US officials and running Apple Daily as an outspoken pro-democracy platform, had put him in direct conflict with Chinese authorities for years. The newspaper was shut down after legal intervention and the arrests of its management staff.
The Hong Kong government and Chinese authorities have consistently rejected claims that Lai's prosecution is politically motivated or constitutes an infringement on press freedom, saying he was treated in accordance with the law and received adequate medical care while serving his sentence.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee has said that Lai used his media to incite social division, distort facts and seek foreign interference against China and the special administrative region.
At the sentencing hearing, Lai appeared physically weak but reacted calmly to the sentence. Before the hearing began, he greeted those present in the hall and turned to his former colleagues from Apple Daily, who were also awaiting the court's decision. The national security law has fundamentally changed the political and social reality of Hong Kong, leading to the imprisonment of dozens of opposition figures, the dissolution of civil society organizations and the closure of critical media outlets, while the case of Jimmy Lai remains one of the most significant examples of this transformation.
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