Hong Kong court sentences media tycoon and UK citizen Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison

A Hong Kong court jailed pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai for 20 years on Monday after he was found guilty of national security offences last December, the BBC writes.

Lai, who is a British citizen, was one of the loudest critics of Beijing, often wielding his pro-democracy paper, Apple Daily, as a tool of protest.

Six former executives of the paper were also jailed on Monday – from six years and nine months to 10 years.

The UK calls for the Chinese government to release Lai, saying it will “rapidly engage further” with Beijing. But Hong Kong’s chief executive welcomes the sentence, saying Lai used “used Apple Daily to poison the minds of citizens.”