Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai was sentenced again on Saturday to five years and nine months in prison for fraud, France Presse reported.

The founder of Apple Daily, a newspaper that criticized Chinese authorities and was forced to close, Lai recently spent twenty months behind bars for participating in unauthorized demonstrations and gatherings, Agerpres notes.

At age 75, he has yet to be tried for “collusion with foreign powers,” a violation of Beijing’s tough national security law that carries a life sentence.

While his previous prison terms were related to his role in the pro-democracy protests that rocked mainland China in 2019, the case in which he was convicted on Saturday involved violating the terms of his newspaper’s office lease.

Lai and Wong Wai-keung, a former director of Apple Daily, were found guilty in October of the fraud, which Judge Stanley Chen described as a “planned and organized scheme that went on for years.”

Charges of the prosecutor’s office

According to prosecutors, the consulting firm, which Lai ran for personal use, occupied offices leased by Apple Daily for publishing and printing purposes. They claim this is a breach of the terms of the lease signed with the state-owned company and constitutes fraud.

For their part, the lawyers argued that this case should have been the subject of a civil process, not a criminal one, adding that it was about a minimum area.

61-year-old Wong was sentenced to 21 months in prison.

A judge criticized Apple Daily for using its prominent media reputation as a “shield” that prevented a landlord from taking action if the terms of the lease were breached.

But “don’t connect it with politics,” he added, insisting that the case had nothing to do with politics or press freedom.

Jimmy Lai openly criticizes Beijing

Jimmy Lai, one of the leading figures in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, has long been an outspoken critic of Beijing.

His paper had been critical of Chinese authorities for years before it was forced to close in mid-2021 after its funds were frozen and some of its staff and founder were arrested.