Jimmy Lai fraud conviction overturned

Hong Kong democracy advocate and media tycoon Jimmy Lai scored a legal victory Thursday when an appeals court in the Chinese Special Administrative Region overturned one of several guilty verdicts against him.

Lai is currently serving a 20-year sentence on other charges brought under China’s National Security Law, including conspiracy to collaborate with foreign forces and publishing seditious materials — both of which he denies.

The conviction overturned Thursday was related to a fraud case in which prosecutors accused Lai and a business partner of having breached a commercial rental contract when Lai’s now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper allowed a consulting firm that he ran to use some space in the building.

The lease stipulated that the space was to be used exclusively for publishing and printing.

What did the Hong Kong court say?

In its decision, the appeals court wrote that prosecutors had not proven the two mens’ guilt.

Further, judges ruled that Apple Daily had no duty to report the breach, nor could responsibility for the breach be attributed to Lai personally as a matter of law. The court said the accusation that two “were liable for the concealment as the prosecution contended is unsupportable.”  

The court also found that prosecutors had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendants had made false representations, throwing out both convictions and sentences.

Hong Kong‘s Beijing-aligned government said the Department of Justice would study the judgment thoroughly and consider whether or not to appeal, adding that the court’s ruling did not change the fact that Lai had used the office space for illegitimate personal purposes.

The fate of 78-year-old Lai, an outspoken critic of China‘s ruling Communist Party, has sparked outcry and put a spotlight on the loss of press freedom in Hong Kong and the brutal repression of dissent by Beijing. Despite this victory, he remains jailed on national security charges.

Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher