Overview
- Judge Esther Toh ordered 18 years of the term to run consecutively to Lai’s separate five-year-nine-month fraud sentence, lengthening his total time in prison.
- Eight co-defendants, including six former Apple Daily executives, an activist and a paralegal, received prison terms ranging from about six years and three months to 10 years.
- The three-judge panel described Lai as the “mastermind” of the conspiracies and said the collusion offenses were of a grave nature.
- Lai has 28 days to appeal and has been in custody since 2020, with much of that time reported to be in solitary confinement amid concerns about his health.
- Western governments and media-rights groups condemned the verdict, while Hong Kong and Beijing officials said the prosecution was a legitimate national-security case and not about press freedom.