Jimmy Lai jailed for 14 months for illegal assembly

Jailed media tycoon and Beijing critic Jimmy Lai Chee-ying was sentenced to a further 14 months in prison over his role in an unauthorised assembly on October 1, 2019, during a pro-democracy rallies that year, Reuters reports.

Judge Amanda Woodcock delivered the sentence in the District Court.

This month, Lai, who is serving a 14-month sentence for participating in similar demonstrations on August 18 and August 31, 2019, and nine other activists, pleaded guilty in District Court to organizing an unauthorized assembly.

He has been in jail since December after being denied bail in a separate national security trial. He faces three charges under the new law, introduced by China in 2020 in response to the protests, including collusion with a foreign country.

Judge Woodcock said part of the new sentence would be served consecutively, meaning Lai faces a total of 20 months in prison so far.

Woodcock said she found claims by some of the defendants that their march on October 1, China's national day, would be peaceful to be "naive and unrealistic."

There were major clashes that day, including a live round shot by a policeman at a protester swinging a long stick, the first use of a handgun after months of demonstrations.

Activists Figo Chan, Lee Cheuk-yan, Albert Ho and Leung Kwok-hung, who is known in Hong Kong as Long Hair, were sentenced to 18 months for each of two charges in this case, with the sentences to be served concurrently.

Lai's repeated arrests have drawn criticism from Western governments and international rights groups, who raised concerns over waning freedoms in the global financial hub, including freedom of speech and assembly.

Beijing sees him as a traitor and an anti-China instigator.

China says the sweeping security law, which punishes anything Beijing considers as subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison, was vital to restore stability and prosperity.

The sentencing comes two weeks after authorities froze assets belonging to Lai, including bank accounts and his 71.26 percent stake in media publisher Next Digital.

The Secretary for Security Lee Ka-chiu sent letters to Lai and branches of HSBC and Citibank this month threatening up to seven years in prison for any dealings with the billionaire's accounts in the city, according to documents seen by Reuters.

The moves could imperil any attempt by the democracy activist to move offshore assets back home to prop up Next Digital's troubled Apple Daily tabloid, a staunch government critic, one of Lai's financial advisers said.

- Reporting by Jessie Pang and James Pomfret