China - December 2022

Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced to nearly six years in prison on fraud charges on 10 December 2022 for the alleged violation of a lease contract by his company, Apple Daily. Lai has been serving a 20-month sentence since April 2021 after being convicted in three cases of "unauthorized assembly" for participating in peaceful protests, and faces life in prison under separate charges under Hong Kong’s National Security Law. Domestic and international rights watchdogs decried the charges as baseless and politically motivated.

Sources: South China Morning Post, New York Times, Human Rights Watch