By Chris Lau, CNN
(CNN) — Former Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, ending a years-long legal battle that has come to define Beijing’s transformational crackdown on the once-freewheeling financial hub.
The 78-year-old self-made billionaire was among the highest-profile government critics charged since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the semi-autonomous southern city in 2020.
The lengthy sentence – Lai will not be eligible for parole until he is in his late 90s – will likely galvanize international calls for the media mogul’s release in the landmark trial closely watched by Western world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, who previously vowed to “get him out.”
Trump is expected to travel to China in the coming months to meet his counterpart Xi Jinping and many of Lai’s supporters will be lobbying him to raise the jailed media mogul’s case.
Lai’s outspokenness over the Hong Kong’s shrinking freedoms – including to top US officials – and his role as the founder of now-defunct Apple Daily, a fiercely pro-democracy tabloid newspaper, had long made him a thorn in Beijing’s side.
He was found guilty of two national security charges and a sedition charge in December following a years-long court battle.
Lai, looking visibly slim in a white jacket, smiled slightly upon hearing the sentence Monday. Before the court session began, he had put his hands together to greet those sitting in the court gallery and turned to see six former Apple Daily colleagues who were also awaiting sentencing.
Those colleagues were jailed too, receiving sentences ranging from 6 years, 9 months to 10 years behind bars. Apple Daily and its affiliated companies were fined 6 million Hong Kong Dollars ($767,000).
Both Beijing and Hong Kong’s government have repeatedly rejected international criticism of Lai’s prosecution and dismissed accusations that his jailing was politically motivated or an assault on press freedom.
Beijing’s national security law has transformed Hong Kong, with authorities jailing dozens of dissidents; forcing civil society groups and outspoken media outlets to disband; and neutering the city’s once-raucous political scene.
City and national authorities say their restrictions have “restored stability” following mass anti-government protests in 2019 that turned violent at times.
Supporters had been lining up for days outside the West Kowloon court since last week hoping to catch the last glimpse of Lai.
“He is the flag of Hong Kong,” Chan Chun-yee, 75, who arrived outside the court on Thursday, told CNN. “I don’t agree with everything he did but I aligned with his spirit and the things he pursued, such as freedom, democracy and justice.”
Another supporter, who asked only to be identified as Andy, said: “Lai and his colleagues deserve a Nobel Peace Prize.”
Police ramped up security outside the court complex, setting up cordon lines and searching those lining up. Judges also warned the public not to disturb the court proceeding or face expulsion.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
CNN’s Samra Zulfaqar contributed reporting
The post Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in prison after landmark national security