Hong Kong media \u200btycoon Jimmy Lai will not appeal against his conviction and 20-year jail term for collusion with foreign forces \u200band sedition, his lawyer said on Friday, after a landmark \u200bcase that sparked international criticism. The founder \u2060of the now-shuttered pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, Lai, 78, was one of the most outspoken \u200bcritics of the ruling \u200cChinese Communist Party. A nearly five-year legal saga ended with his sentencing in February following a December conviction on two counts \u200bof conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of publishing seditious materials. A member of Lai’s domestic legal team told Reuters his client would not appeal \u200cthe conviction \u200cand sentencing, which drew criticism \u200bfrom countries such as Britain and the United States. “We can confirm we have clear and definitive instructions not to lodge an appeal against conviction or sentence,” he said, speaking on condition of \u200banonymity, but gave no reason for the decision.
Separately, Fung Wai-kong, the former editor-in-chief of the paper’s English news section, launched an appeal on Monday against his 10-year jail \u200bterm in the same national security case. Lai’s son and daughter have warned he might die in prison, as his health is deteriorating after spending more than five years in solitary confinement. He has diabetes and health problems such as heart palpitations and \u200chigh blood pressure. Rights groups and numerous democratic countries have called for Lai’s release. U.S. President Donald Trump raised the matter with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, \u2060and is expected to \u200bfollow up in a closely anticipated visit to Beijing at the end of this month. Hong Kong and Beijing, however, say Lai received a fair trial and all are treated \u2060equally under the \u2060national security law that has \u2060restored order to the city since mass pro-democracy protests in 2019. Last month, in a separate case, Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal handed Lai a rare legal victory by o<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hong Kong media \u200btycoon Jimmy Lai will not appeal against his conviction and 20-year jail term for collusion with foreign forces \u200band sedition, his lawyer said on Friday, after a landmark \u200bcase that sparked international criticism. The founder \u2060of the now-shuttered pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, Lai, 78, was one of the most outspoken \u200bcritics of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n