Jimmy Lai, 4 other activists imprisoned

Hong Kong, April 16:

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai was jailed for 14 months on Friday along with four other veteran democracy activists for their roles in protests that helped trigger a sweeping crackdown on dissent by China.

Lai was given two jail terms for separate rallies in August 2019, at the peak of a democracy uprising that paralysed the financial hub for months.

The jail terms were the first ever for the 73year-old millionaire, who has spent decades using his media empire to support democracy in Hong Kong, a campaign that has seen him denounced by China as a “traitor”.

The sentences on Friday were the latest in a relentless and successful campaign by China since the protests to silence dissent.

Lai and four other campaigners were initially sentenced for leading a rally that organisers said attracted up to 1.7 million people.

Nine of Hong Kong’s most prominent democracy campaigners had been found guilty of organising and participating in it. —