"Lai was accused of using his Apple Daily media outlet to call for sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese officials as punishment for cracking down on pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019. He was also accused of financing international campaigns to garner support for such sanctions. Authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong have cast Lai as a sinister force behind the demonstrations, which sprung from a grassroots protest movement and did not have clear leadership."
"The sentence was not a surprise as Beijing has sought to wipe out the city's few remaining press freedoms and judicial independence. Much of the case against Lai hinged on his efforts to lobby governments in Taiwan, Britain, Japan and the United States to impose "sanctions, blockades or hostile activities" against Hong Kong after the city's national security law took effect in June 2020. That law loosely defined terms including "inciting subversion" and "collusion" and allowed sentences of life in prison."
Jimmy Lai, 78 and a British citizen, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after convictions for sedition and collusion with foreign forces. The sentence could keep Lai imprisoned for life and some supporters hope Washington or London might secure his release through diplomatic negotiations. Government-approved judges said there was "indisputable evidence" that Lai conspired to undermine national security and that his intent was to seek the downfall of the Chinese Communist Party. Lai was accused of using Apple Daily to call for sanctions and financing international campaigns to garner support. Much of the case hinged on lobbying foreign governments after the national security law took effect in June 2020, a law that loosely defined offenses such as "inciting subversion" and "collusion" and allowed life sentences.
Read at The Washington Post
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