Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai sentenced to year in prison

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to a year in prison for attending two peaceful protests in 2019.

The 14-month sentence is due to charges against the 73-year-old man for attending and organizing an unlawful protest in August 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Lai has been a pro-Democracy fighter in Hong Kong with his newspaper repeatedly going after China’s government.

There were nine prominent pro-Democracy protesters sentenced to prison with the judge determining their stay based on their age and history of public service.

Lai has a history of public service that has earned him plenty of legal trouble with China.

Lai has also been charged with foreign collusion under China’s new national security law in Hong Kong that could earn Lai life in prison, according to the Journal.

Protests broke out in 2019 as Hong Kong fought for Democracy which led to a crackdown by Beijing that was decried by countries including the United States.

“Having arrested the majority of Hong Kong’s most prominent dissidents using the repressive national security law, the authorities are now mopping up remaining peaceful critics under the pretext of bogus charges related to the 2019 protests,” said Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific regional director.

Activists chanted in support of the defendants when they were taken away by police vans after their sentencing.