The 75-year-old China critic was found guilty of two counts of fraud for covering up a private company's operations and violating a lease contract at the headquarters of his former newspaper Apple Daily.
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Pro-democracy Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai has been charged with fraud and sentenced to five years and nine months in prison. The 75-year-old billionaire was convicted on Saturday, of two counts of fraud for covering up the operations of private company, Dico Consultants Ltd, at the headquarters of the now shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, in what was ruled a breach of its land lease.unauthorised assemblies during mass pro-democracy protests in 2019Lai was the head of Next Digital, the parent company of Apple Daily which was shut down in June 2021 following a police raid.
A judgement written by District Court Judge Stanley Chan wrote that Lai had"acted under the protective umbrella of a media organization". He added that the prosecution of a media tycoon"wasn't equivalent to an attack on press freedom". The prosecution said the newspaper could only be used for"publishing and printing" without prior approval from the operator, due to its lease conditions on a plot of government land. Acknowledging much of the prosecutions case, Lai's sentence was reduced by three months., have expressed concern about Lai's plight and condemned what they call a broader deterioration in protection for human rights and fundamental freedoms under a China-imposed National Security Law.
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