China critic and former media tycoon Jimmy Lai is sentenced to 20 years in a Hong Kong security case
HONG KONG (AP) — Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy former Hong Kong media tycoon and a fierce critic of Beijing, was sentenced on Monday to 20 years in prison in the longest punishment given so far under a China-imposed national security law that has virtually silenced the city’s dissent.
His co-defendants, six former employees of his Apple Daily newspaper and two activists, received prison terms of between 6 years and 3 months, and 10 years on collusion-related charges.
https://apnews.com/article/hong-kong-jimmy-lai-sentencing-apple-daily-1c3baaedf2abe7710f149c55ce4111d9Open linkView original on lemmy.world
Context: The 1984 Sino–British Joint Declaration set the terms of the 1997 handover, under which China pledged to uphold "one country, two systems" for 50 years.
Influence from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-led central government in Hong Kong expanded significantly during the 2020s, roughly two decades after the handover. The 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests prompted the introduction of the 2020 Hong Kong national security law and the 2021 Hong Kong electoral change
This is de facto a death sentence for the 'crime' of telling the truth.
What it looks like when the rule of law and press freedom is lost, in just 6 short years (opens link to a Mastodon server)