On Monday, Jimmy Lai, a prominent figure in Hong Kong’s media industry, received a 20-year prison sentence as part of a high-profile case under the national security legislation imposed by China, which has significantly altered the city’s political scene since its 2020 introduction.

The High Court declared in its verdict, “Upon reviewing the gravity and overall nature of Lai’s criminal activities, we conclude that a 20-year imprisonment is appropriate in this instance.”

Lai, who established the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was found guilty in December on charges of collaborating with foreign entities, threatening national security, and conspiring to distribute seditious publications. The 78-year-old has been incarcerated for over five years, concurrently serving a sentence for separate fraud-related convictions.

This 20-year sentence is the harshest to date under the 2020 national security law, overshadowing the 10-year sentence meted out to activist and former law professor Benny Tai, convicted in November 2024 for plotting to undermine state authority.

“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.