HONG KONG – Former media mogul and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai is set to receive his sentence on Monday, following his December conviction under Hong Kong’s national security law, a regulation imposed by Beijing.
Lai, aged 78 and the founder of the now-closed Apple Daily newspaper, is potentially facing a life sentence, a development that has attracted criticism from international governments.
According to an announcement on its website, the judiciary has scheduled the sentencing to occur at 10 a.m. on Monday.
Known for his vocal opposition to China’s Communist Party, Lai was arrested under the national security law in 2020, a measure Beijing argued was essential to restore order after the 2019 protests.
Lai’s trial has been widely viewed as a sign of diminishing press freedoms in Hong Kong, which was handed back to China from British rule in 1997.
The impending sentencing could heighten diplomatic tensions, as the U.S. and U.K. have already voiced disapproval of Lai’s conviction. Following the December decision, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his sympathy, while U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government has called for Lai’s release, noting his British citizenship.
Lai was found guilty of conspiring with others to collude with foreign forces and conspiracy to publish seditious articles. He was accused of conspiring with senior executives of Apple Daily and others to ask foreign forces to impose sanctions or blockades or engage in other hostile activities against Hong Kong or China.
Lai, alongside other co-defendants — six former Apple Daily journalists and two activists — are expected to return to court Monday to hear about their fate.
Their convictions under the security law carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Lai pleaded not guilty to all charges. His six former Apple Daily colleagues and the two activists all entered pleas, which could help them get reduced sentences.
Lai previously was convicted of several lesser offenses related to fraud allegations and his actions in 2019. He is serving a nearly six-year prison term for those offenses.
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