Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai is set to be sentenced on Monday in the financial hub’s most high-profile national security case, amid growing calls to free the longstanding critic of the Chinese Communist Party whose health is frail.
The sentence comes after a legal saga spanning almost five years with Lai -- the founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper — after he was convicted of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces on Dec. 15, and one count of publishing seditious materials. He was first arrested in August 2020.
Lai’s plight has been criticized by global leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, spotlighting a years-long national security crackdown in the China-ruled Asian financial hub, following mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.
The 78-year-old, who now faces the prospect of life behind bars, has denied all the charges against him, saying in court he is a “political prisoner” facing persecution from Beijing.
Starmer raised the case of Lai, who holds British citizenship, in detail during a tête-à-tête with Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, according to people briefed on the discussions. Britain’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, and China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, were also present.
