Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai has won an appeal over a 2022 fraud conviction. The ruling offers a surprising legal reprieve for the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper. This victory comes just days after Lai was sentenced to 20 years in prison on separate national security charges. The fraud case stemmed from a contractual dispute and was unrelated to the national security law charges.
High Court Chief Judge Jeremy Poon announced, "(We) allow the appeals, quash the convictions and set aside the sentences." Lai, who remains behind bars, did not appear in court for the appeal ruling. In 2022, he received a jail sentence of five years and nine months for what the trial judge deemed a "planned, organised and years-long" scheme. Prosecutors alleged that a consultancy firm operated by Lai for personal use occupied office space rented by Apple Daily for publication purposes, a breach of lease terms constituting fraud.
Defense lawyers had argued the matter should have been a civil suit, not a criminal prosecution, and that the square footage involved was minimal. Former Apple Daily executive Wong Wai-keung, also charged in the same case, received a 21-month jail sentence.