Hong Kong media baron and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in prison

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai on Monday was sentenced to 20 years in prison in one of the most prominent prosecutions under a China-imposed national security law that has reshaped the city’s political landscape since 2020.

“Having stepped back and taking a global view of the total sentence for Lai’s serious and grave criminal conduct … we are satisfied that the total sentence for Lai in the present case should be 20 years’ imprisonment,” the city’s High Court said in its ruling.

Lai, founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, was convicted in December for collusion with foreign forces, endangering national security, and conspiracy to publish seditious materials. The 78-year-old has been in detention for more than five years while serving a separate prison term on fraud charges.

The 20-year sentence was the longest handed out under the national security law introduced in 2020, surpassing the 10-year term given to activist Benny Tai, a former law professor who was convicted of conspiring to subvert state power, in November 2024.

“A sentence of this magnitude is both cruel and profoundly unjust,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Lai was among the first prominent figures arrested in August 2020 under the security law that Beijing implemented in the Chinese special administrative region, following widespread pro-democracy protests in 2019.

The newspaper ceased operations in June 2021 after police arrested more company employees and froze its assets, ending a 26-year run.

Lai’s case has drawn international criticism, and is seen as a sign of shrinking space for dissent in what was once viewed as the bastion of press freedom in Asia.

U.S. President Donald Trump in December expressed sympathy for Lai’s conviction, saying that he had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to consider his release, but stopped short of taking new action to pressure Beijing.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer raised the case with Xi during his visit to Beijing last month, calling for the release of Lai, who is a British citizen. “Those discussions will continue, and the foreign secretary is in touch with Mr Lai’s family,” Starmer told the U.K. parliament after his trip.

In a statement Monday, Taiwan’s government called the sentence “harsh” and an act of “trampling on freedom of speech and the press,” while denying people’s basic right to “hold those in power accountable.”

Hong Kong authorities have maintained the case was not targeted at curbing press freedom, saying that Lai used news reporting as a pretext to commit acts that threatened China and Hong Kong’s security.

Prosecutors accused Lai of conspiring with six former Apple Daily staffers, two activists and others to lobby foreign governments to impose sanctions and blockades or engage in hostile activities in Hong Kong.

Lai, a vocal critic of the Chinese government, had pleaded not guilty to two charges of colluding with foreign forces under the national security law, as well as a charge of conspiracy to publish seditious materials.

— CNBC’s Hikmah Md Ali and Elaine Yu contrbuted to the report.