Hong Kong court overturns 2022 fraud conviction against pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai

26 February 2026 , 14:26

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Hong Kong court overturns 2022 fraud conviction against pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai

A Hong Kong court on Thursday overturned a 2022 fraud conviction against pro-democracy activist and media tycoon Jimmy Lai that had sent him behind bars for nearly six years in one of several criminal cases brought against him in recent years.

Lai is the former publisher of Apple Daily, a pro-democracy newspaper forced to close in 2021 after a series of police raids. The fraud case centered on allegations that his newspaper sublet office space in violation of a government land lease, for which he had been sentenced to five years and nine months in prison.

Lai has remained in custody since 2020 and still faces separate national security charges. He is currently serving a 20-year sentence handed down earlier this month after a court found the 78-year-old tycoon guilty of conspiring to publish seditious material and to collude with a foreign country or external elements.

Sophia Martinez

World Affairs Correspondent