China critic and former media tycoon Jimmy Lai is sentenced to 20 years in a Hong Kong security case

"HONG KONG Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy former Hong Kong media tycoon and a fierce critic of Beijing, was sentenced on Monday to 20 years in prison in the longest punishment given so far under a China-imposed national security law that has virtually silenced the city's dissent. Lai, 78, was convicted in December of conspiring with others to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security, and conspiracy to publish seditious articles. The maximum penalty for his conviction was life imprisonment."

"The democracy advocate's arrest and trial have raised concerns about the decline of press freedom in what was once an Asian bastion of media independence. The government insists the case has nothing to do with a free press, saying the defendants used news reporting as a pretext for years to commit acts that harmed China and Hong Kong. Lai was one of the first prominent figures to be arrested under the security law in 2020."

"Lai's sentencing could heighten Beijing's diplomatic tensions with foreign governments, which have criticized Lai's conviction and sentencing. U.S. President Donald Trump, who is expected to visit China in April, said he felt "so badly" after the verdict and noted he spoke to Chinese leader Xi Jinping about Lai and asked him "to consider his release." British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government also has called for the releas"

Jimmy Lai, 78, received a 20-year prison sentence under Hong Kong's China-imposed national security law after convictions for conspiring to collude with foreign forces and publishing seditious articles. The maximum penalty for the charges was life imprisonment. Six former Apple Daily employees and two activists received prison terms ranging from three years and three months to ten years on collusion-related charges. Lai smiled at supporters upon arrival but some in the public gallery cried as he left the courtroom. The case follows the closure of Apple Daily and earlier arrests of its senior journalists and has drawn criticism from foreign governments and raised press freedom concerns.

Read at www.npr.org