Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was re-sentenced to five years and nine months in prison on Saturday, December 10, for fraud. founder ofApple DailyJimmy Lai, a newspaper critical of the Chinese government that was forced to close, recently spent twenty months behind bars for taking part in demonstrations and unauthorized gatherings. The 75-year-old will be judged soon.conspiracy with foreign powers“A violation of Beijing’s strict national security law, punishable by life imprisonment.
Jimmy Lai and Wong Wai-Keng, former CEOApple Daily had already been convicted in October of fraud in what Judge Stanley Chan described as a scheme.planned, organized and it took years“. Prosecutors said a consulting firm run by Jimmy Lai occupied the leased offices for his personal use. Apple Dailyfor printing and printing purposes. They claimed that this was a violation of the terms of the lease signed with the state-owned company and was a fraud.
For their part, defense attorneys argued that the case should be civil rather than criminal, adding that the scope is minimal. The judge chargedApple Daily abused its reputation as a popular media outlet to make it “protective shieldwhich did not allow the lessor to act in case of breach of the terms of the lease.
Jimmy Lai, one of the leading figures in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, has long been an outspoken critic of Beijing. For years, his newspaper had been critical of Chinese authorities before being forced to shut down in mid-2021 after its funds were frozen and some executives and its founders were arrested.
Source: Le Figaro
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