A Hong Kong court sentenced pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison on February 9, 2026, under Beijing's national security law for conspiring to collude with foreign forces and publishing seditious material. The 78-year-old media tycoon and six former Apple Daily executives were among those imprisoned in a case drawing sharp international condemnation as a politically motivated crackdown.
On February 9, 2026, three High Court judges at West Kowloon Court handed down sentences in under 10 minutes to Jimmy Lai, six senior executives of his now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid, three associated companies, and two activists. Lai, a prominent critic of the Chinese Communist Party and founder of Apple Daily (which operated from 1995 until its forced closure in 2021 amid Beijing's crackdown), was convicted in December 2025 on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under the 2020 national security law and one count of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious articles. His earliest possible release is 2044 at age 96, assuming a one-third reduction for good behavior.
The six former Apple Daily staff members, who had pleaded guilty, received terms from six years and nine months to 10 years. The two activists, who testified for the prosecution, got up to seven years and three months. Lai, a Chinese-born British citizen arrested in August 2020 for alleged support of the 2019 pro-democracy protests, has endured over 1,800 days in detention, much in solitary confinement. Reports say he smiled and waved to supporters after sentencing.
Hong Kong police official Steve Li welcomed the verdict, calling Lai the 'mastermind and behind-the-scenes manipulator.' The case highlights Beijing's tightening control over the special administrative region.
International backlash was immediate. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper deemed it 'politically motivated,' tantamount to a life sentence for the 78-year-old, and called for his humanitarian release. The US State Department, via Senator Marco Rubio, condemned it as an 'unjust and tragic conclusion' violating the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration and urged parole. Representative John Moolenaar called it a 'stain on the Chinese Communist Party's human rights record.'
Lai's daughter Claire described the sentence as 'heartbreakingly cruel,' warning he could 'die a martyr behind bars.' His son Sebastian told the BBC it was 'essentially a death sentence' despite his father's dedication to Hong Kong's freedoms.
