HONG KONG: A Hong Kong court sentenced pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison on Monday for national security crimes, a punishment rights groups condemned as “effectively a death sentence” and a symbol of the city’s shrivelling press freedoms.

Lai, a British citizen and founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was found guilty in December of collusion with foreign countries by urging them to impose sanctions on Hong Kong and for publishing “seditious” articles in his paper.

The 78-year-old’s sentence is by far the harshest under Hong Kong’s national security law, which Beijing imposed in 2020 after huge pro-democracy protests in the former British colony.

The three High Court judges said in a summary they had settled on 20 years’ imprisonment “after considering the serious and grave criminal conduct of Lai”.

Lai, who has been behind bars since 2020, sat impassively in the dock as his sentence was read out. He waved to family members and supporters in the public gallery as he was led away. His wife Teresa was grim-faced and made no comment as she left the court, but two of his children based abroad condemned the sentence.

“Sentencing my father to this draconian prison sentence is devastating for our family and life-threatening for my father,” Lai’s son Sebastien said in a statement.

The mogul’s daughter Claire called it “a heartbreakingly cruel sentence” which, because of his deteriorating health, effectively meant “he will die a martyr behind bars”. Lai has 28 days to lodge an appeal, but his lawyer declined to say if he would do so.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2026