He was found guilty of violating China's laws concerning the special administrative region.
At the time of sentencing, 78-year-old Lai already faced charges in a case of "collusion with foreign forces" and "dissemination of seditious publications." This is not the first criminal prosecution against the businessman, who is one of the most prominent critics of the Chinese government in Hong Kong. Lai has been behind bars since December 2020. Human rights organizations and democracy advocates view his arrest as politically motivated persecution that undermines press freedom in the region. Elaine Pearson, head of Human Rights Watch in Asia, noted that given Lai's deteriorating health, a lengthy prison sentence can be considered "effectively a death sentence."
