Hong Kong’s media mogul Jimmy Lai, who founded the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was sentenced to five years and nine months on Saturday (December 10). In a legal struggle, Lai was found guilty of fraud, and the district court also fined him US$256,850 (HK$2 million) for violating the terms of a land lease for the offices of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper.
The media mogul, according to the court, contributed significantly to the fraud by aiding in the cover-up of Dico Consultants Ltd.’s activities at the offices of the newspaper he sought to operate.
The 75-year-old, a well-known figure, has been speaking out in favour of Hong Kong’s independence. He has been behind bars since December 2020 and has served 20 months for unauthorised assemblies.
Jimmy had ‘acted under the protective canopy of a media organisation,’ the judge Stanley Chan Kwong-chi stated in his decision. The trial of a media tycoon, according to Chan, ‘wasn’t equivalent to an attack on press freedom.’
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