By James Pomfret and Jessie Pang
HONG KONG, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's most vocal China critic, media tycoon Jimmy Lai, was sentenced on Monday to 20 years in jail, ending the city's biggest national security case which drew international concern about Beijing's clampdown on the city's freedoms and autonomy.
Lai's sentence on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one for publishing seditious materials ends a legal saga that has spanned nearly five years.
Lai, founder of the feisty but shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, was first arrested in August 2020 and was convicted last year.
His 20-year sentence was within the harshest penalty "band" for offences of a "grave nature" and is the most severe punishment meted out yet, the three national security judges said.
Lai's sentence was enhanced by the fact that he was the "mastermind" and driving force behind "persistent" foreign collusion conspiracies, the judges said.
They cited prosecution evidence that the conspiracies had sought sanctions, blockades and other hostile acts from the U.S. and other countries while involving a web of individuals including Apple Daily staff, activists and foreigners.
Besides Lai, six former senior Apple Daily staffers, an activist and a paralegal were sentenced to jail terms ranging between six and 10 years.
"In the present case, Lai was no doubt the mastermind of all three conspiracies charged and therefore he warrants a heavier sentence," the judges said. "As regards the others, it is difficult to distinguish their relative culpability."
The 78-year-old, a British citizen, has denied all the charges against him, saying in court he is a "political prisoner" facing persecution from Beijing.
The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, under China's state council, said in a statement the sentence "is a solemn and powerful declaration that whoever dares to challenge the law on safeguarding national security will be severely punished".
Hong Kong's leader John Lee said it upholds the rule of law and gratified the public, saying "Jimmy Lai's crimes are heinous and utterly unforgivable".
Lai's plight has been criticised by global leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, spotlighting a years-long national security crackdown in the China-ruled Asian financial hub, following mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Those concerns reflected in part Lai's long-standing international profile as a pro-democracy critic of China's Communist Party leadership and his extensive political connections, particularly among U.S. Republicans - ties that prosecutors cited during the case.
At the height of the protests in July 2019, Lai met then-U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington.
Beijing in 2020 imposed the national security law in Hong Kong, saying it was necessary to stabilise the city after months of sometimes violent unrest.
LIFE IN PRISON?
Lai's friends and supporters say is in frail health with diabetes and high blood pressure, and should be freed.
Lai's son, Sebastien, said the sentence "is devastating for our family and life-threatening for my father" and marked the "total destruction" of the Hong Kong legal system.
"After more than five years of relentlessly persecuting my father, it is time for China to do the right thing and release him before it is too late," he said from outside Hong Kong.
Lai, one of Hong Kong's most prominent Roman Catholics, arrived at the court in a white jacket, with hands held together in a praying gesture as he smiled and waved at supporters.
Elaine Pearson, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said a "sentence of this magnitude is both cruel and profoundly unjust"
Hong Kong police played down concerns about Lai's health. The head of the force's national security department, Steve Li, said Lai's health concerns had been "exaggerated" and added that the tycoon deserved his sentence.
The judges said they were not inclined to give Lai any deduction for his medical condition, age and solitary confinement but acknowledged he would face a "more burdensome" time than other inmates. They cut a month off the sedition sentence and one year each for the collusion charges.
Beijing and Hong Kong officials have said that Lai has received a fair trial and all are treated equal under a national security law that they say has been vital to restoring order to the city.
Dozens of Lai's supporters queued for several days to secure a spot in the courtroom, with scores of police officers, sniffer dogs and police vehicles - including an armoured truck and a bomb disposal van - deployed around the area.
"I feel that Mr. Lai is the conscience of Hong Kong," said a man named Sum, 64, who was in the queue.
Starmer raised the case of Lai, who holds British citizenship, during a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month in Beijing, according to people briefed on the discussions, and called for his release.
Trump too raised Lai's case with Xi during a meeting in October. Several Western diplomats told Reuters that negotiations to free Lai would likely begin in earnest now that he has been sentenced.
Lai's lawyer, Robert Pang, said he could not comment when asked whether Lai would appeal, saying he has 28 days to do so.
(Reporting by James Pomfret, Jessie Pang; Additional reporting by Andrew MacAskill in London; Writing by Greg Torode; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree, Michael Perry and Thomas Derpinghaus)
