HK’s Jimmy Lai will be sentenced on Monday
HONG KONG—Hong Kong’s prodemocracy former media tycoon Jimmy Lai will be sentenced on Monday following his conviction in December under a Beijing-imposed national security law.
Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, could face up to life in prison in the case that has stirred criticism from some foreign governments.
The judiciary said on Friday on its website that it’s calling for the sentencing session at 10 a.m. on Monday.
Lai was an outspoken critic of China’s ruling Communist Party and was arrested in 2020 under the national security law that Beijing deemed necessary for the city’s stability following antigovernment protests the previous year.
His trial was widely seen as an indicator of the decline of press freedom in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997. But the city’s government insists the case has nothing to do with media freedom.
The sentencing could create tensions between Beijing and foreign governments. Lai’s conviction already drew criticism from the United States and Britain.
After the December verdict, US President Donald Trump, who had raised Lai’s case with China, said he felt “so badly.”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration has called for the release of Lai, who is a British citizen.
