"If the sentence handed to the media mogul Jimmy Lai was meant to surprise, it would have been shorter. Twenty years behind bars is not a burst of rage. It is a sentence designed to make repression routine in Hong Kong. The 78-year-old founder of the shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily is now likely to die in prison after being convicted of sedition."
"From 2020 to 2026, at least 385 individuals have been arrested and 175 convicted under national security-related offences. The day after Mr Lai's verdict, China released a security white paper on Hong Kong. The timing was no coincidence. It described the national security law as a legal shield that had restored order. The message was that Hong Kong cannot be a special case within China: its courts, legislature and civil service are instruments of Beijing's security apparatus."
Jimmy Lai, 78, founder of Apple Daily, was sentenced to 20 years after conviction for sedition, making death in prison likely. The sentence signals that repression is being normalized in Hong Kong and that courts enforce Beijing's expectations. China's 2020 national security law aimed to dismantle the pro-democracy movement and place freedom of expression under permanent political constraint by the Chinese Communist Party. From 2020 to 2026, at least 385 people were arrested and 175 convicted under national security-related offences. China released a security white paper describing the law as a legal shield that restored order. International criticism included the UN human rights chief calling for release and warning of violations of international law.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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