ARTICLE AD BOX
The Hong Kong government has filed an application to seize “offence-related” properties owned by jailed pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai on national security grounds.
Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai. File photo: Kelly Ho/HKFP. The application to the High Court was filed on Thursday “in order to achieve the important objectives of preventing and suppressing acts and activities endangering national security,” the government said in a statement.
It is unclear what the properties are.
The statement mentioned Lai’s earlier convictions under the Beijing-imposed national security law, saying the High Court had found that he was the “mastermind and driving force behind the case, consciously using Apple Daily and his personal influence” to undermine local and Beijing authorities.
The announcement comes a week after the government designated three companies linked to Lai’s now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid “prohibited organisations” and removed them from the corporate registry.
Police cordoned off the Apple Daily building in Tseung Kwan O a day later.
Apple Daily’s office in Tseung Kwan O. Photo: Kelly Ho/HKFP. The three firms were tried and convicted alongside the Apple Daily founder in his high-profile national security case. Lai was sentenced to 20 years behind bars while the firms were each fined HK$3,004,500.
Thursday’s statement cited a national security law provision that proceeds obtained from security offences, “including financial aid, gains and rewards, and funds and tools used or intended to be used in the commission of the offence shall be seized and confiscated.”
The High Court will order the forfeiture order “only if it is satisfied, after an application is made by the Secretary for Justice, that the property to be forfeited meets relevant conditions.”
The forfeiture order would cut “funding chains” and prevent further acts that could endanger national security, the statement read.
Six former Apple Daily executives were jailed alongside Lai for up to 10 years. Two of them, Fung Wai-kong and Lam Man-chung, have lodged an appeal.
Media tycoon Jimmy Lai and co-defendants were sentenced on February 9, 2026. Graphic: Hans Tse/HKFP.The jailing of the media tycoon and his staff has drawn international rebuke. United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk deplored the 20-year jail sentence handed to Lai, demanding that the verdict be “promptly quashed”.
In contrast, Hong Kong officials and lawmakers have lauded the jail term. Chief Executive John Lee said Lai “deserves his punishment,” adding that the tycoon had “committed numerous heinous crimes and his evil deeds were beyond measure.”
English (US) ·