Former media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, founder of the now-defunct tabloid Apple Daily, was sentenced on Monday to 20 years in prison under the National Security Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, concluding a years-long trial that the HKSAR authorities and communities hailed as justice served.

The court of national security judges Esther Toh Lye-ping, Susana Maria D'Almada Remedios and Alex Lee Wan-tang handed down the sentence to Lai, 78, who was found guilty in December on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of conspiracy to publish seditious materials.

"It is the legislative intent that … the engagement of a foreign entity in endangering national security is generally to be regarded as an offence of a more serious nature, which has to be met with a more severe penalty," the court said in its 47-page judgment.

The court set a starting point of 15 years' imprisonment for each of the two charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, and 21 months for the charge of conspiracy to publish seditious materials.

It noted that Lai had received adequate medical care in prison and declined to reduce his sentence on medical grounds, which is rarely considered for serious crimes. As for Lai's solitary confinement, submitted by his counsel as a ground for mitigation, the court said the arrangement was made at Lai's request due to his fear of "harassment".

Having considered all the circumstances, including Lai's age, health, and solitary confinement, the court deducted one month from his sentence for seditious publication and one year each for the two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces.

As Lai was also sentenced to five years and nine months in prison in December 2022 for one count of fraud, an offense of a "totally different nature and the facts of which were also unrelated to the present case", the court ruled that 18 years of the total 20-year imprisonment should be served consecutively to his fraud sentence.

Companies associated with Lai — Apple Daily, Apple Daily Printing and AD Internet — have each been fined HK$3,004,500 ($384,440).

Lai's eight co-defendants — two "Stand with Hong Kong" core members and six former Next Digital staff members, who had previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces — were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from six years and three months to 10 years.

Among them, three former Apple Daily senior executives — Law Wai-kwong, Lam Man-chung and Fung Wai-kong — were each sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In a statement issued after the sentencing, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said that Lai had committed heinous crimes and had been met with the full force of justice.

The sentence upholds the rule of law, serves justice, and brings a profound sense of righteousness to the public, he said.

Solid evidence presented in court clearly showed that Lai was the mastermind behind relevant anti-China and anti-HKSAR activities, Lee said, adding that Lai's acts were "despicable and shameless".

Hong Kong Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok said in a social media post that the Department of Justice of the HKSAR will not comment on the specifics of the judgment at this time, because further legal procedures may follow.

The Hong Kong Police Force's National Security Department lauded the sentencing, saying that it recognized the gravity of Lai's offenses and clearly highlighted his position as the "prime culprit" and "mastermind" behind the crimes.

gangwen@chinadaily.com.cn