Former Hong Kong media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has decided not to appeal against his conviction and 20-year jail sentence imposed in a landmark national security trial, the South China Morning Post has learned.
A member of Lai’s Hong Kong legal team, who asked not to be named, confirmed to the SCMP on Friday that Lai would not file an application to the Court of Appeal before the usual 28-day deadline for lodging an appeal in criminal proceedings expires on Monday.
“We can confirm we have clear and definitive instructions not to lodge an appeal against conviction or sentence,” the lawyer said.
While Lai, 78, can still file an appeal after the deadline, he must give compelling reasons as to why he did not do so earlier within the time period specified by the law.
Last month, the founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid-style newspaper was sentenced to 20 years in prison over his conviction on two conspiracy counts of collusion with foreign forces and a third of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious articles.
After a trial that lasted 156 days, three Court of First Instance judges hand-picked by the chief executive to hear national security cases found that he had used his newspaper and network of international contacts to push for sanctions against the local and central governments.
Six former senior executives at Apple Daily also received sentences ranging from six years and nine months to 10 years for conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, while two activists were jailed for up to seven years and three months for the same offence.
The judges also imposed fines totalling more than HK$9 million (US$1.15 million) on three companies responsible for the newspaper’s operations.
Fung Wai-kong, managing editor of Apple Daily’s English edition, is the only defendant to have filed an appeal so far.
Fung, editor-in-chief Ryan Law Wai-kwong and executive editor-in-chief Lam Man-chung were each jailed for 10 years.
While the trio each received a one-third sentencing discount for pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity, the judges declined to award further reductions in light of the statutory minimum sentence required for a serious offence of collusion.
The tough sentences have been widely lauded by local and central authorities, with Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu saying Lai deserved his punishment for his “heinous” and “evil” crimes.
Beijing’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office hailed the penalty as a “powerful declaration” that “whoever dares to challenge the national security legislation will be severely punished”.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said her government would “rapidly engage” with Chinese authorities over the prospect of releasing Lai, a British citizen, on humanitarian grounds, adding that the 20-year jail term was “tantamount to a life sentence”.
The European Union also slammed Lai’s “politically motivated prosecution” and “heavy prison sentence”. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
