Lack of response shows security law and harassment by authorities have muzzled ‘critical voices’, say experts
The rise and fall of Jimmy Lai, whose trajectory mirrored that of Hong Kong itself
Hong Kong’s once-vibrant media outlets have responded with silence or celebration to the 20-year jail sentence handed down to Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy media tycoon and critic of the Chinese Communist party.
Lai, 78, was sentenced on Monday to 20 years in prison after being convicted of sedition and colluding with foreign forces under Hong Kong’s national security law. The charges were widely seen as being politically motivated and designed to silence one of Hong Kong’s most influential pro-democracy campaigners.
Lai is the founder of Apple Daily, a popular pro-democracy newspaper that was forced to close in 2021 amid a crackdown on dissent in the Hong Kong. After months of protests, which Lai and his newspaper supported, Beijing imposed a national security law on the city. Lai was one of the earliest, and most high-profile, people to be arrested under the new legislation.
