The Hong Kong judiciary on Saturday sentenced media mogul Jimmy Lai to five years and nine months in prison and a fine of two million Hong Kong dollars (about 244,000 euros).
Lai has been found guilty of two counts of fraud with which he was charged back in October. In addition, the conviction includes a ban on managing any kind of company for the next eight years, as reported by Bloomberg.
Although Lai has pleaded not guilty to using the headquarters of a former company for unspecified purposes, the prosecution has determined that the tycoon’s activity would have benefited his now defunct newspaper, the ‘Apple Daily’.
In this fraud case, prosecutors are also seeking to confiscate the 75-year-old media tycoon’s illegal profits, as reported by local newspaper ‘The South China Morning Post’.
This sentence against Lai adds to the growing list of renowned dissidents imprisoned by the authorities in the region. In fact, the ‘Apple Daily’ also closed last year under pressure from a National Security Law drafted from China.
Lai has already served 20 months for his participation in unauthorized assemblies during the 2019 anti-government protests. The pro-democracy activist also faces charges under the aforementioned security legislation, including conspiring to collude with foreign forces.
