{"id":416035,"date":"2026-02-09T09:43:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T09:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/416035\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T09:43:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T09:43:08","slug":"jimmy-lai-hong-kong-pro-democracy-figure-sentenced-to-20-years-in-prison-for-national-security-offences-jimmy-lai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/416035\/","title":{"rendered":"Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong pro-democracy figure, sentenced to 20 years in prison for national security offences | Jimmy Lai"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jimmy Lai, the media mogul and prominent pro-democracy activist, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong<\/a> for national security offences, a punishment his daughter said could mean \u201che will die a martyr behind bars\u201d.<\/p>\n

Claire Lai said the sentence was \u201cheartbreakingly cruel\u201d given her 78-year-old father\u2019s declining health, while her brother Sebastien Lai called the sentence \u201cdraconian\u201d and \u201cdevastating\u201d.<\/p>\n

The sentencing is the culmination of a years-long saga that critics say represents Hong Kong\u2019s transformation<\/a> from a mostly free city to one where dissent is fiercely suppressed by the Chinese Communist party-controlled authorities.<\/p>\n

Lai was convicted in December<\/a> on charges of sedition and conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. He had pleaded not guilty to all charges. The collusion convictions carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.<\/p>\n

A prison van believed to be carrying Jimmy Lai leaves the West Kowloon magistrates courts building in Hong Kong on Monday. Photograph: Tyrone Siu\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Lai\u2019s 20-year sentence is the harshest penalty handed down for national security offences in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

The sentence was condemned immediately by Taiwan, as well as press freedom and human rights groups.<\/p>\n

Reporters Without Borders said: \u201cToday, the curtain falls on press freedom in Hong Kong \u2026 This court decision underscores the complete collapse of press freedom in Hong Kong and the authorities\u2019 profound contempt for independent journalism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch said the length of jail time given to Lai was \u201ceffectively a death sentence\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cA sentence of this magnitude is both cruel and profoundly unjust. Lai\u2019s years of persecution show the Chinese government\u2019s determination to crush independent journalism and silence anyone who dares to criticise the Communist party,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

Amnesty International called the case \u201canother grim milestone in Hong Kong\u2019s transformation from a city governed by the rule of law to one ruled by fear\u201d.<\/p>\n

Members of the media outside the West Kowloon magistrates courts in Hong Kong on Monday. Photograph: May James\/EPA<\/p>\n

Hong Kong\u2019s chief executive, John Lee, said on Monday the sentencing of Lai was \u201cdeeply gratifying\u201d. \u201cJimmy Lai\u2019s crimes are heinous and evil in the extreme. His heavy sentence of 20 years\u2019 imprisonment demonstrates the rule of law, upholds justice and is deeply gratifying,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Steve Li, the chief superintendent of the police national security department, said the sentence was \u201cappropriate\u201d and alleged that claims about Lai\u2019s frail health were \u201cexaggerated\u201d.<\/p>\n

Beijing\u2019s foreign affairs spokesperson Lin Jian said the sentence was \u201clegitimate\u201d and \u201creasonable\u201d. Li said: \u201cHong Kong is a society governed by the rule of law \u2026 there is no room for argument.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lai\u2019s prosecution has been described as politically motivated by human rights groups and the British government, which has called for his release.<\/p>\n

The UK foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, said: \u201cFor the 78-year-old, this is tantamount to a life sentence\u201d. Cooper called for Lai to be released from his \u201cappalling ordeal\u201d on humanitarian grounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prime minister raised Mr Lai\u2019s case directly with President Xi during his visit. That has opened up discussion of our most acute concerns directly with the Chinese government, at the highest levels,\u201d said Cooper. \u201cFollowing today\u2019s sentencing we will rapidly engage further on Mr Lai\u2019s case.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, Chinese state media described Lai, a British citizen who has lived in Hong Kong since he fled China<\/a> as a child refugee, as an \u201canti-government instigator and traitor\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lai is the founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily, a popular Hong Kong newspaper<\/a> that supported the pro-democracy movement that swelled in the city in the 2010s.<\/p>\n

The movement was crushed in June 2020 by the imposition of a harsh national security law that criminalised most forms of dissent. The authorities said the law was necessary to restore stability to the city. Lai was arrested and charged under that law in August that year. Apple Daily was forced to close in 2021.<\/p>\n

Keir Starmer said that he raised Lai\u2019s case<\/a> when he met China\u2019s leader, Xi Jinping, in Beijing in January. But it is not clear what, if any, progress the UK has made towards securing Lai\u2019s release. Sebastien Lai said recently<\/a> that the UK government had not done enough for his father and that \u201ctime is running out\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sebastien Lai at a media briefing in December. Photograph: Jill Mead\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

The US president, Donald Trump, has also said that he would secure Lai\u2019s release.<\/p>\n

The chair of the US select committee on China, John Moolenaar, said: \u201cPresident Trump made it abundantly clear to General Secretary Xi in October that Lai should be freed and allowed to leave Hong Kong to be with his family \u2026 If General Secretary Xi wants to improve his relationship with the United States, freeing Jimmy Lai is where he needs to start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lai\u2019s supporters hope that negotiations can now start in earnest for him to be released on health grounds.<\/p>\n

There are increasing concerns about Lai\u2019s health and wellbeing in prison. His family said he had suffered dramatic weight loss<\/a> and that his teeth had rotted. He has been behind bars since December 2020, mostly in solitary confinement. Hong Kong authorities say Lai has received appropriate medical care and that he requested to be kept separate from other prisoners.<\/p>\n

Lai was sentenced along with eight other co-defendants \u2013 two activists and six former executives from Lai\u2019s media company \u2013 in the landmark national security trial, all of whom pleaded guilty. They were handed sentences ranging from six years and three months to 10 years.<\/p>\n

Mark Clifford, the president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong and author of a biography of Lai titled The Troublemaker, said: \u201cThe heavy sentences meted out not only to Lai but to his six Apple Daily colleagues underscore China\u2019s lack of concern about Hong Kong\u2019s rule of law … The British government needs to redouble its efforts to free Lai on humanitarian grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clifford is a former executive in Lai\u2019s media company and was referenced several times in the ruling against Lai.<\/p>\n

Lai\u2019s trial was presided over by three judges handpicked by the government to hear national security cases. In their 855-page judgment convicting him, the judges said Lai was \u201ca very savvy business man\u201d and that it was \u201cunfortunate that his deep resentment and hatred for the Chinese Communist party \u2026 led him down a thorny path\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lai was accused of using Apple Daily and political connections, particularly in the US, to lobby for foreign governments to impose sanctions on China and Hong Kong after the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2019 and 2020.<\/p>\n

Lai said he never called for sanctions after the national security law had taken effect, as \u201cit would be suicidal to do so\u201d.<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Geneva Abdul<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jimmy Lai, the media mogul and prominent pro-democracy activist, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-416035","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-greatbritain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}