(ANSA) - HONG KONG, DECEMBER 10 - Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison again after being found guilty of fraud in a contractual dispute.
Lai, the 75-year-old founder of the now-closed Apple Daily newspaper, had recently served a 20-month prison sentence following multiple convictions for his participation in unauthorized protests and assemblies.
He also faces a possible life sentence in his upcoming trial on national security charges.
While previous convictions were related to his role in the pro-democracy protests that swept Hong Kong in 2019, the latest case involved one of his companies allegedly violating the terms of the office lease of his newspaper.
In addition to the prison sentence, Lai was fined HK$2 million (about 243,000 euros) and banned from running companies for eight years.
Co-defendant Wong, 61, was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
The judge said the ruling involved a "simple case of fraud", and that it "had nothing to do with politics or the freedom of the press".
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