Hong Kong's legal clampdown on Jimmy Lai, tycoon and China critic

2026-02-26 05:08:13

HONG KONG, February 26 - Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal on Thursday overturned a lower court ruling against jailed pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s conviction and sentence for a fraud offence, saying the judge in the case had “erred.”

The ruling came just weeks after Lai was sentenced to 20 years in jail on separate charges on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one for publishing seditious materials.

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The 78-year-old Lai, who founded the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, had pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Here is a timeline of key events:

June 20, 1995 - Lai publishes the first edition of Apple Daily.

June 12, 2019 - Hundreds of thousands take to the streets in pro-democracy protests and police fire rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse crowds.

June 30, 2020 - China imposes a national security law (NSL) on Hong Kong; crimes such as subversion or collusion with foreign forces could be punished with terms of up to life imprisonment.

Aug 10 - Lai is arrested under the NSL over alleged “collusion with foreign forces” as 200 police raid his corporate and media headquarters. He is released on bail.

Dec 3 - Lai is taken into custody after being denied bail on a separate charge of fraud related to the lease of the headquarters of his listed firm Next Digital.

Dec 11 - Lai is charged under the NSL for allegedly colluding with foreign forces.

Dec 23 - Lai is granted bail.

Dec 29 - Lai resigns as chairman of Next Digital.

Dec 31 - Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal orders Lai back into custody, saying a judge erred in granting bail.

April 16, 2021 - Lai is jailed for 14 months for taking part in an unauthorised assembly during a demonstration in August 2019.

May 14 - Lai’s listed company faces mounting pressure, including a freeze on its assets, leading to its shutdown.

May 28 - Lai is handed a second 14-month jail sentence, this time for taking part in an unauthorised assembly on October 1, 2019.

June 17 - Police arrest five executives from Apple Daily, as 500 police officers raid and search its newsroom, seizing computers.

June 20 - Apple Daily marks its 26th anniversary.

June 24 - Apple Daily prints 1 million copies of its final edition, 10 times its normal print run.

Sept 29 - Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan presents a petition to the Court of First Instance to wind up Next Digital.

Dec 13 - Lai is sentenced to 13 months in jail for taking part in a banned vigil for victims of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

July 30, 2022 - Secretary of Justice Paul Lam orders Lai’s trial be heard without a jury, citing the “involvement of foreign factors” and a “real risk that the due administration of justice might be impaired.”

Nov 22 - Six former Apple Daily staffers plead guilty to conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces.

Nov 28 - Hong Kong leader John Lee asks Beijing to rule on its bid to block foreign lawyers from working on national security cases, after the top court rules that British lawyer Tim Owen could represent Lai.

Dec 1 - High Court postpones Lai’s security trial to December 13, pending a decision from Beijing on whether Owen can defend him.

Dec 10 - Lai is sentenced to five years and nine months on a fraud charge linked to Next Digital’s lease.

Dec 30 - China’s top lawmaking body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, gives Lee, the Hong Kong leader, the power to bar lawyers without the right to practise in Hong Kong from national security cases. The move effectively bars Owen from defending Lai.

May 19, 2023 - Hong Kong’s High Court dismisses an attempt by Lai to challenge the ruling on legal representation.

May 29 - Hong Kong’s High Court rejects an application to terminate the security trial against Lai.

Aug 18 – During a pre-trial review, Lai’s trial is further postponed until December 18.

Dec 18 - Lai’s national security trial begins.

Jan 2, 2024 - Lai pleads not guilty to the charges.

Nov 20 - Lai begins testifying, saying he never tried to influence the foreign policy of the U.S. and other countries towards China and Hong Kong.

March 6, 2025 - Lai finishes his testimony.

Aug 15 - Closing submissions are delayed after Lai suffers heart palpitations, prompting authorities to provide medication and a heart monitor.

Aug 28 - Closing submissions for Lai’s national security trial end, bringing the 156-day trial to a close.

Oct 30 - U.S. President Donald Trump raises Lai’s case in a meeting with China’s leader Xi Jinping.

Dec 15 - A guilty verdict is handed down.

Feb 9 - Hong Kong’s court sentences Lai to 20 years in jail.

Feb 26 - Lai’s fraud conviction and prison sentence are overturned, in a surprise legal decision.

Reporting by Jessie Pang and James Pomfret; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Thomas Derpinghaus

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Jessie Pang

Thomson Reuters

Jessie Pang is a breaking news correspondent at Reuters, where she focuses on politics and general news in Hong Kong as well as breaking news in China. She’s a two-time SOPA Awards winner and a Human Rights Press Awards winner. She’s also an FCC Clare Hollingworth Fellow (2019-20). She joined Reuters in 2019 after an internship. She graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a master’s in journalism.

James Pomfret

Thomson Reuters

James Pomfret is a Special Correspondent for Reuters covering politics and policy in Asia, with a specialization on China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. A two-time Pulitzer finalist, his multimedia career has spanned print, radio, TV and photography. His reporting includes “The Revolt of Hong Kong” - an investigative series he helped lead that was a Pulitzer finalist for International Reporting in 2020, and a series on China’s weaponization of the rule of law against its critics that won a 2023 SOPA award.

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