UK Foreign Secretary Calls Jimmy Lai's 20-Year Hong Kong Sentence 'Tantamount to Life Sentence'

A Hong Kong court has sentenced Jimmy Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, to 20 years in prison. Britain's foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, responded in a statement that for a man his age the term is "tantamount to a life sentence."

Lai, a British citizen, was found guilty in December of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of publishing seditious materials. He denied every charge. In court he described himself as a "political prisoner" facing persecution from Beijing. Cooper agreed, calling the case a politically motivated prosecution that targeted him for exercising his right to freedom of expression. She said she remains deeply concerned about his health and again urged the Hong Kong authorities to release him on humanitarian grounds so he can be reunited with his family.

On Sunday the court explained its reasoning. It placed the sentence in the most severe penalty band, reserved for offences of a grave nature, and said the term was enhanced because Lai was the "mastermind" and driving force behind the foreign collusion conspiracies. Lai's lawyer gave no comment when asked whether he would appeal.

Lai was arrested in August 2020, after China imposed a national security law following massive anti-government protests in Hong Kong. He has been in prison for five years and was previously sentenced for several lesser offences. His family says he has spent more than 1,800 days in solitary confinement, and that his health has deteriorated as a result. They say he has diabetes, high blood pressure and heart palpitations. On Monday, the head of Hong Kong police's National Security Department said claims of his frail health are "exaggerated."

Lai's son, Sebastien, told Sky News the trial was a "show trial" and that the outcome was no surprise. "I think many people expected it," he said, calling the sentence essentially a life sentence and a death sentence. He said he is holding out hope for a release, arguing that it is in the interest of both Hong Kong and China, since the case is damaging their reputation. "If my father dies, he becomes a martyr," he said.

Sky's Asia correspondent, Helen-Ann Smith, spoke last month to Lai's biographer and close friend, Mark Clifford, who described Lai as the embodiment of what the authorities fear: a principled person who refuses to back down, who is smart and articulate, and who, crucially, has a platform.

Condemnation has come from many quarters. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said the verdict should be promptly quashed as incompatible with international law. The EU's diplomatic service, the European External Action Service, said it deplores the heavy sentence and called for Lai's immediate and unconditional release. Elaine Pearson, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, called the term effectively a death sentence, both cruel and profoundly unjust. US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer have also criticised Lai's plight. According to people briefed on the talks, Starmer raised the case with Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.

A former Apple Daily reporter, who gave his name only as Wong, told Reuters that now that "red lines" have formally become part of judgments and sentences, the already weakened news industry will shrink further.

What happens next may turn on an appeal. Several Western diplomats told Reuters that negotiations to free Lai would likely begin in earnest after sentencing, depending on whether he appeals.