A Hong Kong appellate court on Thursday overturned fraud convictions against media tycoon Jimmy Lai, marking an uncommon legal success for the high-profile pro-democracy advocate.
Lai, 78, a vocal critic of China’s ruling Communist party and founder of the now-closed Apple Daily, will nonetheless remain behind bars. Just weeks ago, he received a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in a separate case under the Beijing-imposed national security law.
More than five years have passed since Lai was first arrested under that law, which authorities have used in a sweeping crackdown targeting many of Hong Kong’s leading pro-democracy figures.
His case has become emblematic of concerns over declining press freedom in the city and has drawn widespread international criticism. Hong Kong officials, however, maintain that the proceedings against him are unrelated to media freedom.
The fraud conviction set aside on Thursday stemmed from an earlier case in which prosecutors alleged that a consultancy company controlled by Lai had improperly used office space rented by his media enterprise for publishing and printing operations.
In 2022, Lai was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison after being convicted on two counts of fraud.
A lower court judge concluded that Lai and his co-defendant, Wong Wai-keung, had concealed the consultancy firm’s use of the premises and breached the lease agreement, stating that Lai had used his media organisation as a protective shield. The judge also imposed a fine of 2 million Hong Kong dollars ($257,000) on Lai.
On appeal, however, the higher court determined that prosecutors had failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants had made false representations, and it dismissed both convictions.
The decision could marginally reduce Lai’s overall prison term. In the national security case, judges allowed only two years of the fraud sentence to run concurrently with the 20-year term, with the remaining 18 years to be served consecutively.
Jimmy Lai
The length of the national security sentence has fueled fears that Lai could spend the remainder of his life in prison.
His children have expressed hope that Donald Trump, who has said he aimed to secure their father’s release, might raise the issue during a forthcoming trip to Beijing. The White House has confirmed that Trump is scheduled to visit China from 31 March through 2 April for talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The UK foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, has stated that Lai, a British citizen, was punished for exercising his right to freedom of expression and has urged Hong Kong authorities to release him on humanitarian grounds.
Authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing have defended the national security verdict, the most severe sentence imposed for such offences in the city, asserting that it demonstrates adherence to the rule of law and that the security legislation is essential for maintaining stability.
In a separate case on Thursday, a Hong Kong court sentenced the father of a wanted pro-democracy activist to eight months in prison under the same national security framework after he attempted to cancel her insurance policy and withdraw its funds.
Kwok Yin-sang, 69, was convicted earlier this month of “attempting to deal with, directly or indirectly, any funds or other financial assets or economic resources” belonging to an “absconder” under the city’s national security law.
He is the first person in Hong Kong to be charged and convicted under that specific provision. Kwok pleaded not guilty and did not testify during his trial.
His daughter, Anna Kwok, is a leader of the Washington-based advocacy group Hong Kong Democracy Council and is among 34 overseas activists sought by Hong Kong national security police.
Speaking in Washington before her father’s sentencing, Anna Kwok told that she found it “utterly despicable” that the Hong Kong government was pursuing her father.
Kwok Yin-sang had been accused of attempting to withdraw HK$88,609 from an education savings insurance policy he purchased for his daughter when she was nearly two years old.
Acting principal magistrate Cheng Lim-chi ruled that because Anna Kwok is considered a fugitive, any direct or indirect handling of her insurance policy constitutes an offence.
