Hong Kong appeals court overturns Jimmy Lai’s fraud conviction
Al Jazeera
Surprise ruling comes weeks after the media mogul was convicted and jailed for 20 years on national security charges.
A Hong Kong appellate court has overturned a fraud conviction against pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai in a surprise ruling weeks after his jailing for 20 years on a separate national security charge.
The ruling by the Court of First Instance on Thursday said that it allowed the appeal from Lai and another defendant in the case to proceed as a lower court judge had “erred”.
“[We] allow the appeals, quash the convictions and set aside the sentences,” the judges wrote.
The conviction that was overturned was from an earlier fraud case in which prosecutors alleged that a consultancy firm operated by Lai, 78, for his personal use had taken up office space that his now defunct media business – Apple Daily – rented for publication and printing purposes.
This was in breach of the terms of the lease Apple Daily signed with a government company and amounted to fraud, prosecutors said.
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