Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai sentenced to another 14 months for pro-democracy rallies

Beijing critic and media company founder Jimmy Lai was sentenced Friday to 14 months in prison for helping organize an unauthorized October 2019 pro-democracy rally in Hong Kong, Reuters reported.

Lai and nine other activists pleaded guilty earlier this month to organizing the assembly.

Lai, who founded the pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily and its parent company Next Digital, was initially jailed and held without bail in December for charges under a national security law enacted earlier that year.

In April, Lai was sentenced to 14 months in a separate case for attending and organizing an August 2019 demonstration. The court said his new sentence will start after his previous one ends.

Though Hong Kong has for decades operated separately from mainland China under the “one country, two systems” political structure, the 2020 national security law gave Beijing jurisdiction over some cases.

Lai faces a potential life sentence for charges under the new law.