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Hong Kong — Jimmy Lai, the former pro-democracy Hong Kong media mogul and fierce critic of Beijing, was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison, the longest punishment yet imposed under any law. National security law imposed by China which has virtually silenced the city’s dissent.

Lai, 78, was sentenced in December of conspiring with others to collude with foreign forces and endanger national security, and conspiracy 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 sentences of between 6 years and 3 months, and 10 years on charges related to collusion.

Lai smiled and waved to his supporters as he arrived to receive the sentence. But before he left the courtroom, he appeared serious, while some people in the public gallery cried. When asked if they would appeal, their lawyer, Robert Pang, had no comment.

The arrest and trial of the democracy defender have raised concerns about the decline of press freedom in what was once an Asian bastion of media independence. The government insists the case has nothing to do with a free press, saying the defendants used the news as a pretext for years to commit acts that harmed Porcelain 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 journalists were also arrested and the newspaper close in June 2021.

The family warns that Lai “will die a martyr behind bars”

In a statement, Lai’s son Sebastien said the “draconian” prison sentence was devastating for his family and endangered his father’s life. “It means 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,” he said.

Lai has already been detained for more than five years.

In January, his lawyer Pang said Lai suffered from health problems, including palpitations, high blood pressure and diabetes.

The prosecution said a medical report said Lai’s general health remained stable. The government claimed that Lai had requested to remain in solitary confinement.

Lai’s sentence condemned around the world

Lai’s sentencing could increase Beijing’s diplomatic tension with foreign governments, which have criticized Lai’s conviction and sentence.

President Trump, who is expected to visit China in April, said in December that he felt “very bad” after the verdict was handed down, noting that he had spoken to Chinese leader Xi Jinping about Lai and asked him “to consider releasing him.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government has also called for the release of Lai, who is a British citizen. UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called the charge “politically motivated” and said the prison sentence was equivalent to a life sentence.

Human Rights Watch’s Asia director Elaine Pearson said the harsh 20-year sentence is effectively a death sentence, calling it cruel and unjust.

Chinese leaders find Lai’s sentence ‘deeply gratifying’

Hong Kong leader John Lee said Lai’s sentence demonstrated the rule of law and called the crimes for which he was convicted “heinous and evil in the extreme.”

The “severe 20-year prison sentence imposed on the newspaper magnate demonstrates the rule of law, upholds justice and is deeply gratifying,” Lee said in a statement.

Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry in Beijing, said Lai was “a key planner and participant in a series of anti-China and disruptive activities in Hong Kong,” and praised the sentence as “reasonable, legitimate and legal,” adding: “There is no room for argument.”

Lin urged “relevant countries” to respect the rule of law in Hong Kong.

Lai prosecuted under China’s sweeping new security law

Lai founded Apple Daily, a now-defunct newspaper known for its critical reporting against the Hong Kong and Beijing governments. He was arrested in August 2020 under the security law that was used during years of repression against many of Hong Kong’s leading activists.

In their ruling, three judges reviewed by the government wrote that the starting point of Lai’s sentence was increased because he was found to be the mastermind of the conspiracies. But they also reduced his sentence because they accepted that Lai’s age, health and solitary confinement would make his life in prison more burdensome than that of other inmates.

“Lai was undoubtedly the mastermind of all three accused conspiracies and therefore deserves a harsher sentence,” they said. “As for the others, it is difficult to distinguish their relative guilt.”

They took into account that Lai is serving a prison sentence of five years and nine months in a separate fraud case and ruled that 18 years of Lai’s sentence in the security case should be served consecutively to that prison sentence.

A chilling effect on China’s journalists and academics

Urania Chiu, a law professor at Oxford Brookes University, said the case is significant for its broad interpretation of seditious intent and the application of the term “collusion with foreign forces” to certain media activities. The implication is particularly alarming for journalists and those working in academia, he said.

“Offering and publishing legitimate criticism of the state, often involving engagement with international platforms and audiences, can now easily be interpreted as ‘collusion,'” Chiu said.

Former Apple Daily employees and activists involved in Lai’s case pleaded guilty, helping to reduce their sentences on Monday. They previously admitted to the prosecution’s charge that they conspired with Lai to solicit foreign forces to impose sanctions or blockades, or engage in other hostile activities against Hong Kong or China.

The convicted journalists are editor Cheung Kim-hung, associate editor 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 sentences ranging from six years and nine months to ten years.

The two activists, Andy Li and Chan Tsz-wah, were sentenced to six years and three months, and seven years and three months, respectively.

The sentences for Cheung, Chan and Yeung, along with the two activists, were reduced in part because they acted as prosecution witnesses and the judges said their evidence had contributed “significantly” to Lai’s conviction.

Before dawn, dozens of people lined up outside the court building to get a seat in the courtroom. One of them was Tammy Cheung, a former Apple Daily employee.

“Whatever happens, it’s an end; at least we will know the outcome,” Cheung said before the sentence was pronounced.

Lai founded Apple Daily in 1995, two years before the former British colony returned to Chinese rule. Its closure in 2021 shocked the local press scene. Hong Kong ranked 140th out of 180 territories in the press freedom index compiled by the press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders in 2025, down from 18th place in 2002.