Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Tycoon Jimmy Lai Will Not Appeal Conviction Jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai has decided not to appeal his conviction under the city’s national security law. Members of his international legal team informed the BBC that domestic lawyers were explicitly instructed by Lai to abandon any appeal. The reasons for this decision were not disclosed, and the team declined further comment. Lai was found guilty of conspiracy to publish seditious material and conspiracy to collude with foreign forces—charges he has consistently denied. He received a 20-year prison sentence last month, marking the most severe punishment under the national security law since its implementation in 2020. A separate fraud conviction, which carried a six-year sentence, was overturned in a recent legal appeal. The national security case centered on a meeting Lai had with former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during the 2019 pro-democracy protests. Lai has maintained that the meeting was purely informational and unrelated to foreign policy influence. He has denied using his foreign contacts to interfere with Hong Kong’s affairs. Lai, a British citizen and founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, is among the most prominent figures arrested under the national security law. His case has drawn global attention, with Hong Kong’s chief executive, John Lee, praising the sentence as a necessary response to Lai’s “evil deeds.” Lee claimed the newspaper had radicalized young Hongkongers during the protests. International critics, including the United Nations’ human rights chief Volker Türk, have condemned the conviction, calling it incompatible with international law. Türk urged the verdict to be “promptly quashed.#jimmy_lai #john_lee #mike_pence #mike_pompeo #volker_turk
