Sipu Jha
Hong Kong–based pro-democracy media figure Jimmy Lai, a British citizen, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Monday, more than five years after his arrest in August 2020, sparking global outcry.Lai, 78, was found guilty of “colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security” under China’s stringent National Security Law. He has been behind bars since 2020 and has already served time for other criminal convictions.
It is by far the harshest sentence imposed under the national security law, exceeding the previous record of 10 years given to legal scholar Benny Tai in 2024.How the sentence was calculatedAccording to AFP, Lai, the founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was convicted on two counts of conspiring to collude with foreign forces, an offence that carries a sentence of 10 years to life for serious cases under the national security law.He also faced a separate charge of conspiring to publish “seditious” material under a colonial-era law, which carries a maximum sentence of two years for first-time offenders.Judges have discretion over whether the sentences run concurrently or consecutively.The judges said they imposed a 20-year prison term after “stepping back and taking a global view of the total sentence” for what they described as Lai’s “serious and grave criminal conduct.”In effect, Lai will spend 18 more years in jail, with two years of the sentence overlapping an existing term of five years and nine months he is already serving after a 2022 fraud conviction linked to a contractual dispute.According to his lawyer, Lai has 28 days to file an appeal, though the lawyer did not say whether he plans to do so. Enacted in 2024, the National Security Law has made it much harder for those jailed under its provisions to win early release.‘Death sentence’ decriedIf Lai serves his full sentence, he would likely be 96 before his release, effectively turning it into a “death sentence.”Hong Kong’s chief executive, John Lee, welcomed the sentence, calling it “deeply gratifying.” An official statement quoted him saying, “Jimmy Lai’s crimes are heinous and evil in the extreme. His heavy 20-year sentence demonstrates the rule of law and upholds justice.”Beijing also praised the verdict. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a press conference that the sentence was “legitimate, reasonable, and legal,” adding that “there is no room for argument.”The sentence drew condemnation abroad. British foreign secretary Yvette Cooper called it “a politically motivated prosecution” and said Beijing’s National Security Law was imposed to “silence critics.” She added that Prime Minister Keir Starmer had raised Lai’s case directly with President Xi during a recent visit to Beijing and that Britain would continue to engage on the matter.Cooper also invoked the Sino-British Joint Declaration, under which Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997 but is meant to be governed as a Special Administrative Region.Reporters Without Borders: “Today, the curtain falls on press freedom in Hong Kong. Democracies, such as the UK and the US, must stop prioritising the normalisation of relations with China and instead exert pressure on the Chinese regime and Hong Kong authorities to ensure that Jimmy Lai and all other journalists are released from prison.”Human Rights Watch: “The harsh 20-year sentence against 78-year-old Jimmy Lai is effectively a death sentence. A sentence of this magnitude is both cruel and profoundly unjust.”Amnesty International: “The case marks another grim milestone in Hong Kong’s transformation from a city governed by the rule of law to one ruled by fear.”European Union: “The EU calls on the Hong Kong authorities to restore confidence in press freedom in Hong Kong… and to stop prosecuting journalists.”
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