Jimmy Lai Chee Ying
Political Prisoner
Jimmy Lai Chee-ying 黎智英 (72)
Founder, Next Digital Limited
*Currently in jail and on trial. A total of 20 months imprisonment.
Jimmy Lai is an internationally-respected entrepreneur and a leading campaigner for democracy and human rights in Hong Kong. He is the founder of Giordano, one of Asia's largest clothing retailers and Next Media, formerly the largest listed media company in Hong Kong, which published, among other titles, the Apple Daily, the only Chinese-language mass circulation pro-democracy daily newspaper until its forced closure in June 2021. (Photo: HKFP)
Charges, incidents & sentences:
Charge: Organising and participating in an unauthorised assembly
Incident: Causeway Bay March on18 August 2019
Sentencing: 12 months imprisonment (HKFP)
Charge: Organising and participating in an unauthorised assembly
Incident: Chater Garden Rally on 31 August 2019
Sentencing: 8 months imprisonment, to be served concurrently with charges related to 18 August 2019 March except for two months (BBC, CNN)
Charge: Organising and participating in an unauthorised assembly
Incident: Protest on Hong Kong Island on 1 October 2019
Sentencing: 14 months imprisonment, part of the sentencing to be served concurrently with previous sentencing, extending Lai's jail term to a total of 20 months (Nikkei, Forbes)
Charging: Participating in and inciting participation in an unauthorised assembly
Incident: June 4th Candlelight Vigil on 4 June 2020
Charge: Colluding with foreign powers or with external forces, to endanger national security; Conspiring to print, publish, sell, offer for sale, distribute, display and/or reproduce seditious publications
Court Date: Return day on 24 February 2022 at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court
Charge: Fraud
