Jimmy Lai. Kelly Ho from HKFP. On December 10, coincidentally UN Human Rights Day, a district court in Hong Kong sentenced pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai to 69 months in prison for land lease fraud. The US government condemned the result as “neither fair nor just” and urged Beijing to respect Hong Kong’s freedom of expression and press: The United States condemns the grossly unjust outcome of Jimmy Lai’s latest trial sentencing. By any objective measure, this result is neither fair nor just. We once again call on PRC authorities to respect freedom of expression, including for the press, in Hong Kong. — Ned Price (@StateDeptSpox) December 10, 2022 Both Beijing and the Hong Kong governments accused the US of foreign interference. In a press release, the Hong Kong government said: In pursuit of its political interests, the US has blatantly interfered in the fair trial by the court, seriously undermined the spirit of the rule of law and contravened international standards and international law. The use of numerous fallacies by the US is nothing but exposure of its hegemonic bullying, resulting in a loss of its credibility… The now-defunct Apple Daily News’ founder Jimmy Lai is still facing charges under Hong Kong’s colonial sedition law, a colonial relic that prohibits citizens from criticizing the government, as well as three other charges related to foreign collusion under the National Security Law (NSL). The NSL, which was imposed on Hong Kong through national legislation by Beijing in 2020, criminalizes broadly and vaguely defined incitement, subversion, terrorism, and foreign collusion and hence allows the government to arrest critics or dissidents in the name of national security. Many believe Lai will spend the rest of his life in prison as the Hong Kong authorities are taking all political measures to convict the 75-year-old activist of violating the NSL, which could lead to maximum life imprisonment. Exiled Hong Kong activist Nathan Law called for more international pressure to help secure Lai’s release: Jimmy Lai, a 75-year-old media tycoon, is PRC's no.1 national enemy in Hong Kong. The only crime he committed was to speak up for democracy. He's been sentenced for years, and a few more political charges are pending. He may not be able to get out of prison alive. pic.twitter.com/fsuAHeECjO — Nathan Law 羅冠聰 (@nathanlawkc) December 14, 2022 One of the most controversial measures taken by the Hong Kong government is to invite the standing committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) to “clarify” whether or not overseas lawyers could take part in cases involving national security. Beijing wrote the law, and officials were seemingly deferring to their judgment. The appeal was presented to Beijing last month, right after the government’s failed attempt to block British barrister Tim Owen from defending Jimmy Lai as the local court dismissed the government’s claim that the presence of overseas lawyers would defeat the purpose of the NSL to prevent foreign interference and that the government has no effective mechanism to prevent overseas lawyers from leaking state secrets. However, Beijing has not responded to the request yet. Pro-establishment sources told local newspapers that the Committee for Safeguarding National Security had the power to advance the development of the legal system and enforce mechanisms for safeguarding national security. The NSL also states that “no institution, organization or individual in the HKSAR shall interfere with the work of the Committee.” In addition, its operations “shall not be subject to disclosure,” and decisions “shall not be amenable to judicial review.” Hong Kong pro-establishment heavyweight u-turned and said interpretation from Beijing on NSL isn’t be necessary, @mingpaocom reports. One proposal floated was to have National Security Commission to issue order, which can’t be JR, to block Tim Owen’s visa.https://t.co/o9kE6aSin4 — Alvin Lum (@alvinllum) December 13, 2022 Jimmy Lai’s national security trial has been adjourned to September 25, 2023. Lai planned to plead not guilty, though his case may be complicated because his six former staff members of Apple Daily and Next Digital pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit collusion in November 2022. It remains unsure if Tim Owen can enter Hong Kong to attend Lai’s trial as the criminal case expert has already encountered some visa problems after he was invited to join Lai’s legal team. Since the court revoked his bail on December 3, 2020, Jimmy Lai has already been in jail for over two years.