Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai will not appeal conviction, 20-year term, lawyer says
Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai will not appeal against his conviction and 20-year jail term for collusion with foreign forces and sedition, his lawyer said on Friday (Mar 6), in a landmark case that has sparked international criticism. The founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, Lai, 78, was one of the most outspoken critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. A nearly five-year legal saga ended with his sentencing in February following a December conviction on two counts of 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 the conviction and sentencing, which drew criticism from 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 anonymity, 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 …
