Hong Kong, verdict on former media tycoon Jimmy Lai on Monday

Hong Kong, Feb. 6 (LaPresse) – The verdict for Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai will be issued on Monday following his conviction in December under Beijing’s national security law. Lai, 78, founder of the now-defunct newspaper Apple Daily, could face life imprisonment in a case that has drawn criticism from several foreign governments. The judiciary has scheduled the sentencing hearing for 10 a.m. on Monday. Lai was an outspoken critic of the ruling Chinese Communist Party and was arrested in 2020 under the national security law, which Beijing deemed necessary for the city’s stability following anti-government protests the previous year. His trial has been widely seen as an indicator of the decline of press freedom in the former British colony, returned to Chinese rule in 1997. However, the city government insists the case has nothing to do with press freedom. The sentence could create tensions between Beijing and foreign governments. Lai’s conviction has already drawn criticism from the United States and the United Kingdom. After the December verdict, U.S. President Donald Trump, who had raised Lai’s case with China, said he felt “very bad.” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration has called for Lai’s release, as he is a British citizen.