China - Hong Kong: Leading media figure and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai sentenced to over five years in prison

Jimmy Lai. Credit: Yu Cheng Hsiao (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

13 December 2022: PEN International condemns the sentencing of writer, publisher and activist Jimmy Lai to five years and nine months’ imprisonment after he was found guilty of two counts of fraud for breaching the terms of an office lease. The disproportionate sentencing of one of Hong Kong’s leading media figures is the latest alarming sign of the erosion of freedom of expression in the territory. PEN International calls for his immediate and unconditional release, his latest conviction to be overturned and for all remaining charges against him to be dropped.

On 10 December 2022, Jimmy Lai, the 75-year-old writer, activist, and founder of Hong Kong’s now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, was sentenced to a total of five years and nine months’ imprisonment on two counts of fraud for violating the terms of a lease to an office space used by Apple Daily by allegedly concealing the operation of his consultancy firm within the same premises. Lai was also fined two million Hong Kong dollars (approximately 250,000 USD) and banned from managing companies for eight years. Lai’s co-defendant and former Apple Daily executive, Wong Wai-keung, was also convicted of the same charge and sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment.

“The spurious sentencing of Jimmy Lai to almost six years’ imprisonment on 10 December 2022 - a date that marks the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - is a damning illustration of how the right to freedom of expression has been undermined in Hong Kong. PEN International calls on the PRC and Hong Kong governments to end this miscarriage of justice and to immediately and unconditionally release Jimmy Lai,” said, Ma Thida, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee.

A veteran democracy and human rights activist, Jimmy Lai has been imprisoned continuously since December 2020 following his initial detention in August 2020 on national security charges for his journalism and pro-democracy activism. Saturday’s sentencing takes place just days after Lai completed a 20-month jail term for his participation in the 2019-2020 pro-democracy protests that took place across the territory.

Apple Daily, the Hong Kong newspaper that Jimmy Lai founded, was forced to close June 2021 following the freezing of its funds and the charging of several of its editors and executives. Previously considered to be the territory’s most prominent pro-democracy news outlet, Apple Daily was one of dozens independent media outlets and NGOs that have been forced to close following the enactment of the National Security Law (NSL), which has been used to routinely target government critics and pro-democracy activists.

Jimmy Lai faces further charges under the NSL, which could result in a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. On 13 December 2022, the High Court adjourned Lai's NSL trial until September 2023 as it waits for an interpretation by the PRC government’s top legislative body on whether Jimmy Lai can be represented by his overseas barrister.

The outcome of the PRC government's interpretation will have far-reaching implications for those detained under the NSL and the international reputation of Hong Kong’s legal system, which has previously benefitted from the participation of overseas judges and barristers.

PEN International calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all those wrongfully detained for their peaceful expression by the Hong Kong and PRC authorities. National security should never be used as a pretext to silence peaceful expression.

For further information please contact Ross Holder, Asia Programme Coordinator at PEN International, Unit A, Koops Mill, 162-164 Abbey Street, London, SE1 2AN, Tel.+ 44 (0) 20 7405 0338, email: ross.holder@pen-international.org