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Canada said it was “disappointed” after Jimmy Laipro-democracy ex Hong Kong media tycoon and fierce critic of Beijing, was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison in the longest sentence yet under a China-imposed national security law that has virtually silenced dissent in the city.
For, 78, was sentenced in December conspiring with others to conspire with foreign powers to endanger national security and conspiring to publish seditious articles. The maximum penalty for his conviction was life imprisonment.
His co-defendants, six former employees of his Apple Daily newspaper and two activists, received prison terms of between 6 years and 3 months and 10 years on charges related to the collusion.
Lai smiled and waved to his supporters as he arrived for his punishment. But before he left the courtroom, he looked serious, while some people in the public gallery wept. His lawyer Robert Pang did not comment when asked if he would appeal.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand added Canada’s voice to the growing list of countries protesting the sentence, including the United States.
“Canada is disappointed by the sentencing of pro-democracy media personality Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong today,” she said in a statement posted on social media.
“Mr. Lai is 78 years old and in poor health, and we call for his immediate release. Canada will continue to support free and independent media around the world.”
Lai’s daughter says he will die ‘like a martyr’ in prison
The arrest and trial of the pro-democracy advocate raised concerns about declining press freedom in what was once Asia’s bastion of media independence. The government insists the case has nothing to do with a free press, saying the defendants used the reporting for years as an excuse to commit acts that harmed China and Hong Kong.
Lai was one of the first prominent figures to be arrested under the security law in 2020. Within a year, some of Apple Daily’s senior reporters were also arrested, and the paper was shut down in June 2021.
The Lai verdict could heighten Beijing’s diplomatic tensions with foreign governments, which have criticized Lai’s conviction and sentence.
US President Donald Trump, who is due to visit China in April, said he felt “very bad” after the verdict and noted that he had spoken to Chinese leader Xi Jinping about Lai and asked him “to consider his release”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Monday’s court ruling “an unjust and tragic end to the case” and urged Chinese authorities to grant Lai humanitarian parole, adding that the sentence “shows the world that Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate for fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government has also called for the release of Lai, who is a British citizen. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called the prosecution “politically motivated”, saying the prison sentence was equivalent to a life sentence.
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In a statement, Lai’s son, Sebastien, said the “draconian” prison sentence was devastating for his family and life-threatening for his father. “It marks the complete destruction of Hong Kong’s legal system and the end of justice,” he said.
His sister Claire called the sentence “heartbreakingly cruel” in the same statement. “If this sentence is carried out, he will die a martyr behind bars,” she said.
Hong Kong leader John Lee said Lai’s sentence showed the rule of law, citing his grave crimes.
“It brings people great satisfaction,” he said in a statement.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Lai was a Chinese citizen and called him a master planner and participant in a series of anti-China destabilizing activities in Hong Kong. He urged “relevant countries” to respect the rule of law in Hong Kong.
The judges ruled that Lai was the mastermind
Lai founded Apple Daily, a now-defunct newspaper known for its critical reporting against the governments in Hong Kong and Beijing. He was arrested in August 2020 under a security law used in a years-long crackdown on many leading activists in Hong Kong.
In their ruling, the three judges vetted by the government wrote that the starting point of Lai’s sentence was increased because they found him the mastermind of the plot. But they also reduced his sentence because they accepted that Lai’s age, health and solitary confinement would make his life in prison more difficult than that of other prisoners.
“Lai was undoubtedly the mastermind of all three conspiracies charged and therefore warrants a more severe sentence,” they said. “As for the others, it is difficult to distinguish their relative culpability.”
They took into account that Lai was serving a five-year, nine-month sentence in a separate fraud case and decided that 18 years of Lai’s sentence in the security case should be served consecutively to that sentence.
Urania Chiu, a law professor at Oxford Brookes University, said the case was significant because of the broad construction of seditious intent and the application of the term “collusion with foreign powers” to certain media activities. The implication is particularly alarming for journalists and those working in the academic community, she said.
“Offering and publishing legitimate criticism of the state, which often involves engagement with international platforms and audiences, can now easily be construed as ‘collusion,'” Chiu said.
Lai has been in custody for more than five years. Pang said in January that Lai had health problems including heart palpitations, high blood pressure and diabetes. Prosecutors said a medical report showed Lai’s general health condition remained stable.
The government said his solitary confinement was at Lai’s request.
The sentences of the co-accused are reduced
Former Apple Daily employees and activists involved in Lai’s case pleaded guilty, helping to get their sentences reduced on Monday. They previously admitted to prosecution charges that they conspired with Lai to ask foreign powers to impose sanctions or blockades or engage in other hostile activities against Hong Kong or China.
The convicted journalists are publisher Cheung Kim-hung, associate publisher Chan Pui-man, editor-in-chief Ryan Law, executive editor-in-chief Lam Man-chung, executive editor-in-chief responsible for English news Fung Wai-kong and editorial writer Yeung Ching-kee. They received prison terms of six years and nine months to 10 years.
Two activists, Andy Li and Chan Tsz-wah, were sentenced to six years and three months and seven years and three months, respectively.
Cheung, Chan and Yeung, along with two activists, had their sentences reduced in part because they served as prosecution witnesses, and judges said their evidence contributed “significantly” to Lai’s conviction.
Before sunrise, dozens of people lined up outside the courthouse to secure a seat in the courtroom. One of them was former Apple Daily employee Tammy Cheung.
“Whatever happens, that’s the end – at least we’ll know the outcome,” Cheung said before the sentencing.
The case is seen as a blow to the Hong Kong media
Lai founded Apple Daily in 1995, two years before the former British colony returned to Chinese rule. Its closure in 2021 shocked the domestic journalistic scene. Hong Kong ranked 140th out of 180 territories in the 2025 press freedom index compiled by media freedom organization Reporters Without Borders, down from its 18th place in 2002.
Steve Li, chief superintendent of the National Security Police Department, welcomed Lai’s heavy sentence.
“Obviously, he hasn’t done anything good for Hong Kong that could serve as a basis for easing him,” he told reporters.
The government said it would seize assets linked to Lai’s crime.
Human Rights Watch Asia Director Elaine Pearson said the harsh 20-year sentence was effectively a death sentence, calling it cruel and unjust.
Associated Press writer Chan Ho-him contributed to this report. Additional files from Global News
