Hong Kong authorities announced today that they have frozen the assets of 73-year-old pro-democracy media chief Jimmy Lai and his media companies. Lai was convicted last month for organizing and participating in illegal pro-democracy protests in 2019.
The Security Bureau, set up in Hong Kong in 2020, said it had ordered Jimmy Lai’s assets to be frozen in the next digital media batch. The accounts of three companies he owned were also banned.
The 73-year-old media mogul was sentenced to 14 months in prison in April for organizing and participating in pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019. His Apple Daily newspaper consistently supported the pro-democracy camp and protests in Hong Kong for months in 2019.
Mass protests initially erupted in Hong Kong over a bill that would allow extradition to China. Ultimately, protests were held to express widespread dissatisfaction with democracy and local government.
Beijing ended the protests in the summer of 2020 with the introduction of a strict security law. This law states that seeking independence and undermining the government are punishable by law. Jimmy Lai was arrested last year for violating this security code.
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