Jimmy Lai sentenced to 14 months

Media tycoon and nine ex-lawmakers to face jail for joining illegal assemblies

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying on Friday received a 14-month jail sentence over illegal assemblies in 2019 and faced new charges in a national security case.

Lai was sent to prison immediately after the ruling. It is the first jail sentence that the high-profile activist has received.

Earlier this month, he was convicted of organizing and participating in an unauthorized assembly on Aug 18, 2019, and pleaded guilty to taking part in another assembly on Aug 31, 2019.

District Court Judge Amanda Woodcock, who presided over the cases, stressed that despite Lai’s claims of both illegal assemblies being “peaceful”, the defendant had ignored the enormous risks of the mass gathering descending into violence, which the city frequently suffered at the time.

The ruling must serve as a deterrent on the basic premise that “public order must be maintained” and reflects the “gravamen” of the offense of unlawful assembly, the judge noted.

Also on Friday, a total of nine former legislators received prison terms ranging from 8 months to 18 months for their role in the two illegal assemblies. Six former opposition legislators were put behind bars for organizing and participating in the Aug 18 illegal assembly.

Another defendant in the same case, ex-lawmaker Leung Yiuchung, received an eight-month sentence for participating in the same assembly.

Labour Party Vice-Chairman and former legislator Lee Cheukyan was sentenced to 14 months for his roles in the two illegal assemblies. Former legislator Yeung Sum, another defendant to the Aug 31 assembly case, was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for a year.

Shortly before hearing his sentences, Lai faced two additional charges in another courtroom before Chief Magistrate Victor So Wai-tak of West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts.

He was accused of calling for foreign sanctions against the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or China between July 2020 and February this year, in violation of the city’s National Security Law.

He was also charged with perverting the course of public justice for allegedly helping 12 fugitives who tried to flee Taiwan.

The 12 fugitives were intercepted, arrested and sentenced by mainland authorities for illegal border crossing.