- Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and media tycoon Jimmy Lai has decided not to appeal his conviction, his legal team confirmed.
- The 78-year-old British citizen was sentenced to 20 years in jail last month after being found guilty in December of two charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under a China-imposed national security law, as well as a charge of conspiracy to publish seditious material.
- Lai, founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, has denied all wrongdoing, with his son calling the trial "politically motivated."
- The verdict, the heaviest penalty under the national security law, has been widely condemned internationally as incompatible with international law.
- UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper have expressed concerns, with the UN rights chief Volker Turk appealing for Lai's immediate release on humanitarian grounds.
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