Niagara hotelier, Hong Kong media mogul sentenced to 20 years in prison

Former Hong Kong media tycoon and Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., hotelier Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The 78-year-old self-made billionaire was among the highest-profile government critics charged since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the semi-autonomous southern city in 2020.
He was found guilty of two national security charges and a sedition charge in December following a years-long legal battle.

Canada is joining a group of allies who are demanding China to release Lai after he was sentenced to prison.

Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand issued a statement Monday, saying she is “disappointed” with the sentencing of a pro-democracy figure.

“Mr. Lai is 78-years-old and in poor health and we call for his immediate release. Canada will continue to support free and independent media worldwide,” reads the statement.

Both Beijing and Hong Kong’s government have repeatedly rejected international criticism of Lai’s prosecution and dismissed accusations that his jailing was politically motivated.

Locally, Jimmy Lai is synonymous with hotels like the Prince of Wales and the Queen’s Landing in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.

The British and Chinese citizen is the owner of vintage hotels, the company that owns a string of properties in Niagara-on-the-Lake, like the Prince of Wales and the Queen’s Landing.

He is also a media tycoon who founded a newspaper that was critical of the Hong Kong and Chinese governments.

WATCH MORE: NOTL hotelier, media mogul found guilty in Hong Kong national security trial

Lai was first arrested in 2020 and was eventually convicted on charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and conspiring with others to publish seditious articles.

Lai has denied all the charges against him, and says he is a political prisoner.

Authorities in China have argued that pro-democracy protests are western-fuelled riots meant to destabilize Beijing, adding that Lai played a role in those events.

Lai’s children are slamming the Hong Kong court’s decision, fearing over the conditions their father will face with his declining health.

“This 20 years, it’s a farce,” said Sebastien Lai, Jimmy Lai’s son. “It’s essentially tantamount to a life sentence, or as Human Rights Watch calls it, a death sentence, because in the conditions that my father is being kept in, I don’t know if he even has a tenth of that.”

“Every single day my father is in prison, they’re not only telling everybody in Hong Kong what the legal system is now, they’re also telling all of us — all of you guys, members of the media — the price of speaking out,” said Sebastien.

Canada joins the likes of the U.S., Britain, Australia, the European Union, Japan and Taiwan, who all condemn the sentencing.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio took to social media, calling it an “unjust and tragic” conclusion to this case.

He said the White House is urging authorities to grant Lai humanitarian parole.

No word yet on if Lai’s legal team will file an appeal in China.

READ MORE: NOTL hotelier, media mogul found guilty in Hong Kong national security trial