{"id":2353,"date":"2022-12-10T13:30:51","date_gmt":"2022-12-10T13:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londonpost.news\/?p=2353"},"modified":"2023-03-23T18:39:49","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T18:39:49","slug":"hong-kong-pro-democracy-media-mogul-convicted-of-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/politics\/hong-kong-pro-democracy-media-mogul-convicted-of-fraud\/2022\/12\/10\/admin1\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong jails pro-democracy media tycoon over fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"

HONG<\/span>KONG<\/span> (AP)<\/span> December,10–<\/span> A<\/span> Hong<\/span> Kong<\/span> court<\/span> on<\/span> Saturday<\/span> sentenced<\/span> the<\/span> pro-democracy<\/span> media<\/span> mogul<\/span> to<\/span> five<\/span> years<\/span> and<\/span> nine<\/span> months<\/span> in<\/span> prison<\/span> for<\/span> his<\/span> two<\/span> fraud<\/span> charges,<\/span> including<\/span> a<\/span> breach<\/span> of<\/span> tenancy<\/span> agreement.<\/span> It’s<\/span> the<\/span> latest<\/span> in<\/span> a<\/span> series<\/span> of<\/span> lawsuits<\/span> against<\/span> high-profile<\/span> activists<\/span> that<\/span> critics<\/span> say<\/span> are<\/span> aimed<\/span> at<\/span> quashing<\/span> dissent<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> city.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Jimmy<\/span> Lai,<\/span> who<\/span> was<\/span> arrested<\/span> for<\/span> cracking<\/span> down<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> city’s<\/span> pro-democracy<\/span> movement<\/span> under<\/span> Beijing’s<\/span> imposed<\/span> national<\/span> security<\/span> law<\/span> after<\/span> widespread<\/span> protests<\/span> in<\/span> 2019,<\/span> was<\/span> also<\/span> fined<\/span> HK$2<\/span> million<\/span> (US$257,000).<\/span> .<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>His<\/span> media<\/span> company,<\/span> Next<\/span> Digital,<\/span> published<\/span> the<\/span> now-defunct<\/span> democratic<\/span> newspaper<\/span> Apple<\/span> Daily.<\/span> The<\/span> publication<\/span> was<\/span> forced<\/span> to<\/span> shut<\/span> down<\/span> last<\/span> year<\/span> after<\/span> top<\/span> officials,<\/span> editors<\/span> and<\/span> journalists<\/span> were<\/span> arrested.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>In<\/span> October,<\/span> Lai<\/span> was<\/span> found<\/span> guilty<\/span> of<\/span> fraud<\/span> for<\/span> subletting<\/span> part<\/span> of<\/span> his<\/span> office<\/span> space<\/span> to<\/span> a<\/span> secretarial<\/span> firm<\/span> he<\/span> managed<\/span> between<\/span> 2016<\/span> and<\/span> 2020.<\/span> The<\/span> second<\/span> fraud<\/span> case<\/span> involved<\/span> the<\/span> use<\/span> of<\/span> media<\/span> house<\/span> offices<\/span> by<\/span> the<\/span> same<\/span> company<\/span> for<\/span> alleged<\/span> lease<\/span> breaches<\/span> from<\/span> 1998<\/span> to<\/span> 2015.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>A<\/span> court<\/span> ruled<\/span> at<\/span> the<\/span> time<\/span> that<\/span> the<\/span> move<\/span> was<\/span> against<\/span> a<\/span> lease<\/span> with<\/span> the<\/span> Hong<\/span> Kong<\/span> Science<\/span> and<\/span> Technology<\/span> Park<\/span> Authority.<\/span> In<\/span> violation,<\/span> Lai<\/span> had<\/span> concealed<\/span> the<\/span> fact<\/span> that<\/span> the<\/span> company<\/span> had<\/span> occupied<\/span> the<\/span> premises<\/span> within<\/span> the<\/span> building.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Judge<\/span> Stanley<\/span> Chan<\/span> said<\/span> in<\/span> his<\/span> sentencing<\/span> on<\/span> Saturday<\/span> that<\/span> the<\/span> violations,<\/span> which<\/span> he<\/span> described<\/span> as<\/span> “systematic<\/span> and<\/span> premeditated,”<\/span> occurred<\/span> for<\/span> more<\/span> than<\/span> 20<\/span> years<\/span> and<\/span> Lai<\/span> used<\/span> his<\/span> media<\/span> organization<\/span> as<\/span> a<\/span> “protective<\/span> screen.”<\/span> used.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>He<\/span> said<\/span> there<\/span> was<\/span> no<\/span> reason<\/span> for<\/span> the<\/span> court<\/span> to<\/span> commutate<\/span> his<\/span> sentence<\/span> because<\/span> Lai<\/span> didn’t<\/span> feel<\/span> guilty<\/span> about<\/span> the<\/span> action.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Lai’s<\/span> former<\/span> colleague<\/span> Wong<\/span> Wai-keung,<\/span> who<\/span> was<\/span> convicted<\/span> of<\/span> a<\/span> single<\/span> fraud<\/span> charge<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> case,<\/span> faces<\/span> 21<\/span> months<\/span> in<\/span> prison,<\/span> Chan<\/span> added.<\/span> Lai’s<\/span> legal<\/span> team<\/span> had<\/span> previously<\/span> called<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> United<\/span> Nations<\/span> to<\/span> investigate<\/span> his<\/span> detention<\/span> and<\/span> multiple<\/span> charges<\/span> of<\/span> “legal<\/span> harassment”<\/span> and<\/span> to<\/span> punish<\/span> him<\/span> for<\/span> speaking<\/span> out.<\/span> He<\/span> had<\/span> been<\/span> sentenced<\/span> to<\/span> 20<\/span> months<\/span> in<\/span> prison<\/span> for<\/span> the<\/span> role.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>His<\/span> national<\/span> security<\/span> trial,<\/span> originally<\/span> scheduled<\/span> to<\/span> start<\/span> on<\/span> December<\/span> 1,<\/span> comes<\/span> after<\/span> Hong<\/span> Kong<\/span> leader<\/span> John<\/span> Lee<\/span> called<\/span> on<\/span> China<\/span> to<\/span> effectively<\/span> ban<\/span> him<\/span> from<\/span> hiring<\/span> British<\/span> defenders.<\/span> Deferred.<\/span> If<\/span> convicted,<\/span> Lai<\/span> faces<\/span> life<\/span> in<\/span> prison.<\/span> advertisement<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> passage<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> security<\/span> law<\/span> has<\/span> resulted<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> arrest<\/span> of<\/span> many<\/span> prominent<\/span> democracy<\/span> activists<\/span> in<\/span> China’s<\/span> semi-autonomous<\/span> cities.<\/span> Hong<\/span> Kong,<\/span> a<\/span> former<\/span> British<\/span> colony,<\/span> returned<\/span> to<\/span> Chinese<\/span> rule<\/span> in<\/span> 1997.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Confidence<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> future<\/span> of<\/span> international<\/span> financial<\/span> hubs<\/span> is<\/span> also<\/span> undermined<\/span> as<\/span> more<\/span> and<\/span> more<\/span> young<\/span> professionals<\/span> respond<\/span> to<\/span> shrinking<\/span> freedoms<\/span> by<\/span> moving<\/span> abroad.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HONGKONG (AP) December,10– A Hong Kong court on Saturday sentenced the pro-democracy media mogul to five years and nine months in prison for his two fraud charges, including a breach of tenancy agreement. It’s the latest in a series of lawsuits against high-profile activists that critics say are aimed at quashing dissent in the city. […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[280,2425],"tags":[70,491,492,493,494],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/korean.webp","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2353"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2357,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2353\/revisions\/2357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}