Hong Kong Court Jails Billionaire Jimmy Lai and Others for 2019 Protests

Billionaire Jimmy Lai, a prominent critic of Beijing, has been sentenced to 14 months in prison for participating in peaceful protests. (Wikimedia Commons).

A Hong Kong court sentenced billionaire Jimmy Lai to 14 months in prison for his role in peaceful protests against Chinese encroachment in the city. In particular, he has been sentenced due to his involvement in a 2019 protest against the National Security Law, which many academics and activists believe is the beginning of the end for the “One Country, Two Systems'' framework currently followed by China and Hong Kong.  

In addition to Lai, three other activists and one labor leader have also been charged, with their sentences ranging from eight to 18 months in jail. Other prominent opposition voices such as Martin Lee, who is known as Hong Kong’s “father of democracy,” have received suspended sentences. This means that they will be jailed if they are convicted of another crime within the next two years. All of their charges center around the same rally, which took place in Victoria Park on Hong Kong Island. While the government had approved this peaceful protest, they had not permitted the protestors’ subsequent march to government headquarters, which notably still occurred without violence. The prosecution even acknowledged this, yet cited the tense atmosphere and rising anger against the police force in court as potential inciters of violence.  

This is not Jimmy Lai’s first run-in with the Chinese government. A longtime critic of Beijing, Lai has been one of the most prominent pro-democracy voices in Hong Kong in recent years. He first made his fortune in the clothing industry and later became a media mogul, founding a news conglomerate. Named Next Digital, this company publishes the tabloid Apple Daily, which is quite critical of Chinese intervention in Hong Kong and the city’s leadership. 

While this news source has grown to be quite popular with residents of Hong Kong, it is viewed in China as a threat to national security. As a result, Lai, in a letter to his colleagues at Apple Daily prior to his sentencing, left them with the words of caution that “freedom of speech is dangerous work now,” while reaffirming his commitment to democracy in saying that “[i]t is our responsibility as journalists to seek justice.”

Lai faces six more charges, two of which stem from the country’s 2019 National Security Law, which criminalizes subversion and speech about Hong Kong’s independence. More related charges could potentially be filed against him in the near future.

This event is just the latest in a growing crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong, whether it be through media censorship or jailing dissidents. Pro-Beijing newspapers have been calling for Apple Daily to be taken down due to its threat to national security in the aftermath of his sentencing. Furthermore, the United States and other countries have condemned this sentencing as a violation of freedoms of speech and assembly.