"The 78-year-old was found guilty in West Kowloon district court on Monday of one count of conspiracy to publish seditious publications and two counts of conspiracy to foreign collusion. The charges were brought under the city's punitive national security law , introduced in 2020, and a British colonial-era sedition law that has been used in recent years by authorities. Lai faces spending the rest of his life in prison, amid increasing fears about his physical condition."
"Yvette Cooper, the British foreign secretary, said: The UK condemns the politically motivated prosecution of Jimmy Lai that has resulted in today's guilty verdict. Jimmy Lai has been targeted by the Chinese and Hong Kong governments for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression We continue to call for Mr Lai's immediate release. She later told parliament the Chinese ambassador to the UK had been summoned over Lai's conviction."
Jimmy Lai, a 78-year-old British citizen and founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was convicted in West Kowloon district court of one count of conspiracy to publish seditious publications and two counts of conspiracy to foreign collusion. The convictions invoked Hong Kong's 2020 national security law and a British colonial-era sedition law. Lai faces spending the rest of his life in prison. He has spent more than five years behind bars since his 2020 arrest and reportedly lost significant weight while managing diabetes. Multiple governments and rights groups expressed condemnation and concern and called for his release. Apple Daily was forced to close in 2021.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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