Hong Kong Court Sentences Jimmy Lai to 14 Months Imprisonment
Jimmy Lai, the owner of Hong Kong's anti-China media outlet Apple Daily, is being escorted to the detention center after leaving the Court of Final Appeal, the highest court, on February 9. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Jimmy Lai, the owner of Hong Kong's leading anti-China media outlet Apple Daily, has been sentenced to prison for organizing and participating in illegal assemblies.
On the 16th, major foreign media such as Bloomberg and AP reported that the Hong Kong court sentenced Lai to 14 months in prison.
Earlier, on August 18, 2019, Lai organized and participated in a rally held at Victoria Park opposing the extradition bill. He was tried along with 14 pro-democracy politicians on this charge. The court explained that although the rally, which gathered 1.7 million people, was peaceful, there was a potential risk of violence, and sentenced him to 12 months in prison. Subsequently, in another trial related to the rally held on August 31 of the same year, he received an additional sentence, totaling 14 months. Lai has already been indicted on charges of fraud and violating the Hong Kong National Security Law and has been in custody since December last year.
Meanwhile, the court also sentenced eight other pro-democracy figures who were indicted alongside Lai. Specifically, Lee Cheuk-yan, chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, was sentenced to 12 months, Leung Kwok-hung, chairman of the League of Social Democrats, was sentenced to 18 months, and a total of four people received actual prison terms.
Martin Lee, founder of the Hong Kong Democratic Party, was sentenced to 11 months in prison with a two-year suspended sentence. Former Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho and former Legislative Council member of the Civic Party Margaret Ng also received suspended sentences for their prison terms.
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