Hong Kong sentences media tycoon Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison — What was the case against him?

Hong Kong has sentenced pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai on Monday (Feb 9) to 20 years in prison for foreign collusion and sedition. The sentence ends a legal saga spanning almost five years, and Hong Kong's most high-profile national security hearing, that sparked international condemnation. Lai was first arrested in August 2020 and convicted in 2025. He was the founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper. Lai's family has called the sentence 'draconian and cruel.' The 78-year-old Lai who is a British citizen has denied all the charges against him, saying in court he is a "political prisoner" facing persecution from Beijing. HIs sentence comes even as UK PM Keir Starmer had raised the case of Lai with Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month in Beijing's Great Hall of the People and had called for his release. US President Donald Trump too, raised Lai's case with Xi during a meeting last October.

"After considering the serious and grave criminal conduct of Lai... the Court was satisfied that the total sentence for Lai in the present case should be 20 years' imprisonment," a summary document from the judges said. Two of those years will overlap with Lai's existing prison term, meaning he will serve an additional 18 years, the judges wrote, according to AFP.

Also Read: Jimmy Lai found guilty of colluding with foreign forces, Hong Kong court convicts Beijing critic under national security law

What was the case against him?

Last year, the court found Lai guilty on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under the national security law. The charges on him are related to 161 articles published by Apple Daily between 2019 and 2021, which were deemed to "excite disaffection" against the government. Prosecutors argued that he used his media platform and international political connections to lobby foreign governments to impose sanctions on China and Hong Kong. The court identified him as the "mastermind" behind these efforts.

Also Read: Explained | What did 'troublemaker' Jimmy Lai do? All we know about his national security verdicts

How Taiwan reacted?

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) issued a statement on the sentence of Lai and said that it tramples of freedom and free speech. It said that China and Hong Kong should stop political persecution and immediately release Jimmy Lai. “ Taiwan's people should take Hong Kong's painful experience as a lesson and safeguard the hard-won freedoms of daily life,” it said.