Ex-Apple Daily English news section editor-in-chief files appeal against 10-year jail term

Former editorial writer and editor-in-chief of the English news section at the now-defunct Apple Daily Fung Wai-kong (also known as Lo Fung), has filed an appeal in the city's landmark national security case—the first among the defendants.

According to court records, Fung lodged an appeal regarding his 10-year term on Monday, but the hearing date has yet to be scheduled. 

Fung was among eight defendants who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security with former boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying.

At a hearing on February 9, Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security and one count of conspiracy to publish seditious publications.

Additionally, three companies associated with Apple Daily—Apple Daily Limited, Apple Daily Printing Limited, and AD Internet Limited—were fined a total of HK$3,004,500.

The three designated national security judges—Esther Toh Lye-ping, Susana D'Almada Remedios, and Alex Lee Wan-tang—described the collusion conspiracy as "elaborately planned, premeditated, and continuous," ultimately leading to foreign governments imposing sanctions on China and Hong Kong.

The judges classified the offences as the "most serious crime" under the national security law, establishing a 15-year starting point for sentencing, with a minimum of 10 years imposed.

Fung, along with two senior Apple Daily staff members—former editor-in-chief Ryan Law Wai-kong and former executive editor Lam Man-chung—was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The remaining five defendants who served as accomplice witnesses, including former chief executive of Apple Daily Cheung Kim-hung, former associate publisher, Chan Pui-man, lead editorial writer Yeung Ching-kee, activists Andy Li Yu-hin and Chan Tsz-wah received sentences ranging from six years and three months to seven years and three months . 

As the five witnesses testified honestly and their evidence played a crucial role in convicting Lai and the other defendants, the judges granted them sentence reductions of between seven years and nine months to eight years and nine months.