China: Justice sentences pro-democracy tycoon and activist Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison

The Hong Kong judiciary on Monday sentenced Jimmy Lai, a media mogul and pro-democracy activist, to 20 years in prison in a sentence that human rights advocates consider a blow to freedom in the Chinese territory.

The 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, 78, has been in prison since 2020 and last Dec. 15 was found guilty of publishing "seditious" articles and allegedly instigating foreign countries to impose sanctions against the Chinese regime.

The sentence is the most severe handed down so far under the National Security Law, imposed by China on the territory, and surpasses the 10-year sentence imposed in 2024 on lawyer Benny Tai.

The 20-year sentence includes two from a previous fraud conviction, meaning Lai will serve an additional 18 years in prison.

The UK promised to intervene "without delay" on behalf of the tycoon, who is also a British national, while China called the sentence "legitimate." For his part, U.S. President Donald Trump called for his release, as did the European Union, and Human Rights Watch estimated that the ruling is "in effect a death sentence."

"Sentencing my father to this draconian prison sentence is devastating to our family and endangers his life. It marks the total destruction of Hong Kong's judicial system and the end of justice," Sebastien Lai, concerned for his father's health, said in a statement.

The tycoon's daughter, Claire, said that in the five years of court proceedings she has seen "the deterioration of my father's health." "If this sentence is carried out, he will die a martyr's death behind bars," she said.

The hearing lasted only a few minutes and Lai remained impassive as judges read out his sentence.

When he was evacuated from the courtroom, he solemnly greeted the audience in the courtroom including his wife Teresa and newspaper reporters.

Authorities had deployed dozens of police, an armored vehicle and an explosives deactivation unit in the vicinity.

The court also sentenced eight of Lai's co-defendants, including three senior Apple Daily editors, to prison terms of up to 10 years.

In the 856-page sentence on December 15, the judges say the former tycoon "nurtured his rancor and hatred [toward China] for much of his life" and that he sought to "overthrow the Chinese Communist Party."