Political situation in Hong Kong

The world condemns: “Equivalent to a life sentence”

After Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison, criticism from the outside world is pouring in. The EU condemns the verdict and calls on Hong Kong to immediately release Lai, reports Reuters.

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper says the sentence is “equivalent to a life sentence” and calls for Lai, who is 78, to be released on humanitarian grounds.

Reporters Without Borders Director General Thibaut Bruttin calls the prosecution of Lai “nothing more than a show trial.”

“This court decision underlines the complete collapse of press freedom in Hong Kong and the authorities’ deep contempt for independent journalism,” he says, according to AFP.

Jimmy Lai’s family is also condemning him. His son Sebastien calls the sentence “draconian” while his daughter Claire says Lai will “die a martyr behind bars.”

China on the verdict: “Jimmy Lai deserves a severe punishment”

“Legitimous” and “reasonable”. This is how China’s Foreign Ministry describes the long prison sentence of Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai, reports AFP.

Jimmy Lai, who is 78 years old, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for collaborating with a foreign power under China’s heavily criticized national security law. The indictment against Lai has drawn sharp criticism from the outside world and the human rights organization Human Rights Watch calls today’s verdict a de facto death sentence.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry says that Jimmy Lai “deserves a severe punishment” and that Hong Kong’s judicial organs have now fulfilled their duties, reports Reuters.

Hong Kong’s pro-China leader John Lee is also positive about the verdict, calling it “deeply satisfying”.

20 years in prison for Jimmy Lai: “A show trial”

Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. The 78-year-old faces the risk of spending the rest of his life behind bars and could be released around 2037, writes the BBC.

He has been accused of collaborating with a foreign power under China's heavily criticized national security law, which has drawn widespread criticism from around the world.

- This has been a show trial from the start - the script is already written. We know that a draconian punishment is coming, his lawyer Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC told the BBC shortly before the verdict was handed down.

The case has also caused the US and China to come together. Donald Trump says he is outraged by the verdict and that he will ask President Xi Jinping to release Jimmy Lai, writes the AP. 

Who is Jimmy Lai?

Jimmy Lai was born in 1947 in Guangdong Province, China, and came to Hong Kong at the age of twelve.

He has founded several newspapers, including the now-defunct Apple Daily, which was critical of Beijing.

Lai is known as one of the most prominent regime critics in Hong Kong and has previously been sentenced to prison for participating in pro-democracy protests.

In 2020, he was arrested under Hong Kong's National Security Law and on February 9, 2026, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of collaborating with a foreign power.

Source: AFP