Hong Kong Democracy Activist Jimmy Lai Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison

Jimmy Lai outside West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court in Hong Kong, on Sept. 18, 2020. Sung Pi-lung/The Epoch TimesJimmy Lai, a former Hong Kong media mogul and outspoken critic of China’s communist regime, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in a landmark national security case that has drawn international scrutiny as freedoms in the city continue to erode.Lai, 78, the founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was convicted in December last year on two counts of “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” under the Beijing-imposed national security law and one count of “sedition” under a colonial-era sedition law.He had already spent more than 1,800 days in confinement before Monday’s sentence. According to his son and lawyer, his health has declined substantially during that time, with conditions including diabetes and heart palpitations.Lai’s sentence immediately drew condemnation from rights groups.“The rule of law has been completely shattered in Hong Kong,” Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement.“Today’s egregious decision is the final nail in the coffin for freedom of the press in Hong Kong. The international community must step up its pressure to free Jimmy Lai if we want press freedom to be respected anywhere in the world.”Lai’s plight was also highlighted in a report by the Congressional-Executive Commission in December last year. The report said that Lai had been held in solitary confinement, “spending over 23 hours a day in his cell and was deprived of independent medical care,” citing his legal team.The report called on Washington to impose sanctions on Hong Kong’s government officials, prosecutors, judges, police, and foreign financial institutions complicit in the “systematic erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy and fundamental freedoms” as outlined in two U.S. laws: the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act and the Hong Kong Autonomy Act.The commission also called on Congress to pass the Hong Kong Judicial Sanctions Act, which would “mandate stronger sanctions on officials responsible for undermining democracy, human rights, and due process,” according to the report.This is a developing story and will be updated. Reuters contributed to this report.