Ex-media tycoon Jimmy Lai will be sentenced today after national security conviction 

Jimmy Lai is escorted by Correctional Services officers to get on a prison van before appearing in a court in Hong Kong, Dec. 12, 2020 [Photo; AP Photo]

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy former media tycoon Jimmy Lai will be sentenced today following his conviction in December under the city’s national security law.

Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, could face up to life in prison in the case that has stirred criticism from some foreign governments.

The judiciary said Friday on its website that it’s calling for the sentencing session at 10 a.m. Monday.

Lai was an outspoken critic of China’s ruling Communist Party and was arrested in 2020 under the national security law that Beijing deemed necessary for the city’s stability.

His trial was widely seen as an indicator of the decline of press freedom in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997. But the city’s government insists the case has nothing to do with media freedom.

The sentencing could create tensions between Beijing and foreign governments. Lai’s conviction already drew criticism from the U.S. and Britain. After the December verdict, U.S. President Donald Trump, who had raised Lai’s case with China, said he felt “so badly.” U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration has called for the release of Lai, who is a British citizen.

Hong Kong’s Chief Justice Andrew Cheung said in January that calls for prematurely releasing a defendant based on political causes or identity circumvent legal procedures to ensure accountability and “strike at the very heart of the rule of law itself.”

Lai was found guilty of conspiring with others to collude with foreign forces and conspiracy to publish seditious articles. He was accused of conspiring with senior executives of Apple Daily and others to ask foreign forces to impose sanctions or blockades or engage in other hostile activities against Hong Kong or China.

Lai pleaded not guilty to all charges, while the six former Apple Daily journalists and two activists who are co-defendants entered pleas that could result in reduced sentences. They all are expected to return to court today to hear their fate.

Lai previously was convicted of several lesser offenses related to fraud allegations and his actions in 2019. He is serving a nearly six-year prison term for the fraud case. KANIS LEUNG, HONG KONG, MDT/AP