A court in Hong Kong on Thursday overturned the conviction and jail term of pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai. The decision quashes a 2022 ruling that saw Lai being jailed for nearly six years after being found guilty of fraud.
Lai had filed an appeal against the conviction in Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal, which also quashed another defendant’s jail term.
However, Lai, 78, will continue to remain behind bars due to his conviction and 20-year-jail term in a national security case. The media tycoon was convicted under the city’s national security law earlier this month for colluding with foreign forces.
Lai, who has been in detention since 2020, is a native of the UK and has been a strong critic of the Chinese Communist Party. He is also regarded as one of the key faces in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.
Lai’s family, however, dismissed the Hong Kong court ruling as inconsequential.
His daughter Claire said the court decision was akin to a PR move by the authorities. She said her father remains unjustly jailed, probably for the next 20 years.
Lai’s case has been seen as a symbol of loss of press freedom in the city and has attracted severe international criticism.
The authorities have, however, sought to delink Lai’s convictions from media freedom.
What was the fraud case against Jimmy Lai?
The media mogul was accused of fraud over the misuse of rented office space. Prosecutors had alleged that the concerned office space was rented by his media business for publication and printing work, but it was given to Lai’s consultancy firm.
The lower court ruled that this was a violation of the lease agreement, and also blamed Lai and his co-defendant, Wong Wai-keung, for concealing the misuse.
Lai was also fined two million Hong Kong dollars.
Overturning both the convictions, the higher court ruled that the prosecutors had failed to establish beyond doubt that the two convicts had given false representations.
Lai’s family is now banking its hopes on US President Donald Trump, who has spoken in favour of seeking his release. Trump is also due to travel to China from March 21 to April 2 to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
UK’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said Lai, a British citizen, was facing consequences of exercising his right to freedom of expression. Cooper called for Lai to be freed from prison on humanitarian grounds.
Lai had founded the local tabloid Apple Daily in 1995. It was critical of Beijing and went on to become the city’s largest pro-democracy newspaper.
Following the arrest of key staff members, including Lai, the paper was shut down in 2021.