Hong Kong's Jimmy Lai gets five-year sentence

Jimmy Lai, the declared owner of a pro-democracy newspaper, was sentenced to more than five years in prison for breaching the terms of a contract rental.

Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy media mogul from Hong Kong, was sentenced on Saturday to more than five years in prison for fraud, a sentence the Human rights activists have denounced it as the latest blow to freedom of expression in the city.

Mr. Lai, 75, was sentenced Saturday by District Court Judge Stanley Chan on two counts of fraud for violating the terms of a rental agreement linked to Apple Daily, a pro-democracy newspaper he has founded and which was last forced to close. year when the authorities suppressed it. Wong Wai-keung, director of Apple Daily parent company Next Digital, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for the same offence.

Mr. Lai's five-year, nine-month sentence - which rights activists have called disproportionately harsh for what amounted to a contract dispute - was a further sign of shrinking space for dissent and opposition. freedom of expression in Hong Kong. A former British colony, it was promised in the terms of its transfer to China in 1997 the protection of individual rights for 50 years under an agreement known as one country, two systems.

Mr. Lai still faces several additional charges, including one under a sweeping national security law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing, which has struck fear into the city and resulted in prison terms for several pro-democracy activists from foreground.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Dennis Kwok, a former pro-democracy lawmaker in Hong Kong and senior fellow at Harvard Kennedy. School, who questioned the framing of the case. as fraud, as opposed to civil litigation. "This is clearly a political prosecution."

Mr. Lai is one of the most high-profile pro-democracy figures targeted by Beijing's crackdown on Hong Kong after it was rocked by a wave of anti-government protests in 2019 and 2020. Authorities have detained figures from the opposition, forced media outlets to close and arrested and demonstrators and activists imprisoned.

Mr. Lai was indicted in late 2020 for renting offices in Next Digital's headquarters to his own consulting firm, Dico Consultants, in violation of the lease agreement. (The lease designated use of the building for informational purposes only.) Pro-democracy activists and experts said the case appeared to involve a minor offense that would not normally result in jail time. Mr. Lai's consulting firm had occupied only 0.16% of the entire office complex.

But Judge Chan, when sentencing , called the tiny percentage insignificant compared to the seriousness of the case. . He pointed to the intangible benefits of the arrangement, as well as the need for strong deterrence, as justifications for a heavy sentence.

Mr. Kwok, the former pro-democracy lawmaker, said it was unusual for a fraud case of this nature to be handled by prosecutors and a judge who worked primarily on national security cases. "Under normal circumstances, this would result in a fine or damages at most," he said.

Mr. Lai is still awaiting trial on charges filed in August 2020 for violating the sweeping and vaguely worded national security law that Beijing imposed on the city that year. In 2021, he was sentenced to 13 months in prison for participating in an annual vigil to commemorate the victims of the 1989 crackdown on a peaceful protest in Tiananmen Square. Seven other pro-democracy activists were also found guilty and sentenced in the case.

In this context, Mr Lai's conviction on Saturday came as no surprise. For years, China's news media and state-run politicians have accused him of being a "dark minion" colluding with foreign powers, and some have openly called for him to be punished. p>

Victoria Tin-b...