Hong Kong court quashes fraud conviction of ex-media mogul Jimmy Lai

A Hong Kong appellate court on Thursday quashed fraud convictions against onetime media magnate Jimmy Lai, a rare victory in the prominent activist's legal battles.

Lai, 78, an outspoken critic of China's ruling Communist Party who founded the now-defunct Apple Daily, will stay in prison because he was sentenced to 20 years weeks ago after being convicted in another case brought under a China-imposed national security law.

That came more than five years after he was arrested under the law, which was used in a yearslong crackdown on many of Hong Kong's leading activists.

His plight has evoked grief over the city's loss of press freedom and sparked an international outcry, though the city's authorities insist his case had nothing to do with media independence.

The conviction that was overturned Thursday was from a earlier fraud case in which prosecutors alleged that a consultancy firm controlled by Lai had used office space that his media business rented for publication and printing purposes.

Lai was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison in 2022 after being found guilty of two fraud charges.

A lower court judge found that Lai and his co-defendant Wong Wai-keung had concealed that the firm was occupying space and violated lease agreement, saying he had used his media organisation as a protective shield. He also fined Lai 2 million Hong Kong dollars ($257,000).

But judges at the higher court ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendants had made false representations, throwing out both convictions.

Neither defendant appeared in court.

The ruling could slightly reduce Lai's total prison time. The judges handling Lai's national security allowed the two sentences to be served concurrently for only two years, with the other 18 years to be added after the fraud sentence.

The lengthy sentence has raised concerns that he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Lai's children have expressed hopes that a visit by US President Donald Trump to Beijing could help secure the release of their father, a British citizen.

The White House has confirmed that Trump will travel to China on March 31 through April 2 to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has said Lai was sentenced for exercising his right to freedom of expression and called on the Hong Kong authorities to release him on humanitarian grounds.

Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have defended Lai's sentencing in the national security case, saying it reflected the spirit of the rule of law. They also insisted the security law is necessary for the city's stability.