Media tycoon faces justice for role in Hong Kong riots

On Thursday, Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, a media tycoon famous for his role in the 2019 riots in Hong Kong, was sentenced by a local court in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to 14 more months in prison for organizing and knowingly participating in an illegal assembly in 2019. Nine of his fellow received their sentences with Lai.

According to reports, Amanda Jane Woodcock, the judge in charge, said the assembly organized by Lai was not peaceful because there was criminal damage, acts of violence, weapons carried, roads blocked and fires started during the procession. She also pointed out the defendants' conscious decision to break the law and challenge public order in this manner during such volatile times was a serious factor.

That has hit the point. More than one year after the riots that victimized Hong Kong, memories about those dark days are still fresh in everybody's memory: Men wearing black carrying bows and arrows, Molotov cocktail thrown to the police and passers-by, bricks that poured like rain. Anybody who had seen this would not disagree a bit with its violent nature.

There also was the 57-year-old male burned alive by them, and the 70-year-old male beaten to death with bricks. How could anybody call this "peaceful" and "non-violent"? Dare they utter these words to the victims?

Lai played a role that was far worse than ordinary riots. As a media tycoon who controlled Apple Daily and Next Digital, Lai first used the media to play some young people against their motherland and home city, brainwashing them into becoming rioters; besides that he also funded certain riot groups, as well as received funding from their overseas "donors", which money fueled the riots like gas fueling a fire.

By the way, Lai and Joshua Wong Chi-fung had disputes over "donated" money that escalated into a major quarrel in 2020. It's a case that best reflects what moral standards they follow.

It is with both hands that Lai played some youngsters in Hong Kong against their motherland and home city, and now he faces justice for his crimes. He is not alone and others like him will face their deserved trial and penalty soon.