HONG KONG: A Hong Kong court sentenced a pro-democracy media tycoon to five years and nine months in prison on Saturday over two fraud charges linked to lease violations, the latest of a series of cases against prominent activists that critics say are aimed at crushing dissent in the city.
Jimmy Lai, who was arrested during a crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement following widespread protests in 2019 and under the National Security Law imposed by Beijing, was also fined 2 million Hong Kong dollars ($257,000).
His media company, Next Digital, published the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. The publication was forced to close following the arrests of its top executives, editors and journalists last year.
In October, Lai was found guilty of fraud for subletting part of the office space to a secretarial firm, which was also controlled by him, between 2016 and 2020. The second fraud count was for letting the same firm use the media outlet’s office space in an alleged breach of lease agreements from 1998 to 2015.
The court at that time ruled the moves had violated lease agreements with the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corp. and that Lai had hidden the fact that the company was occupying space in the building.
Handing down the sentences on Saturday, Judge Stanley Chan said the violations, which he called “organized and planned,” occurred over two decades and that Lai had used his media organization as “an umbrella of protection.”
He said Lai did not feel guilty about the moves, so there was no basis for the court to reduce his jail term.
Lai’s former colleague Wong Wai-keung, who was convicted on a single charge of fraud over the case, must serve 21 months in jail, Chan added.
Lai’s legal team earlier asked the United Nations to investigate his imprisonment and multiple criminal charges as “legal harassment” to punish him for speaking out. The tycoon was previously sentenced to 20 months in jail for his role in unauthorized assemblies.
His national security trial, initially scheduled to begin on Dec. 1, was postponed after Hong Kong leader John Lee asked China to effectively block him from hiring a British defense lawyer. If convicted, Lai faces up to life imprisonment.
The enactment of the security law has led to the arrests of many prominent democracy activists in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to China’s rule in 1997.
It has also damaged faith in the future of the international financial hub, with increasing numbers of young professionals responding to the shrinking freedoms by moving abroad.
Hong Kong jails pro-democracy media tycoon over fraud
https://arab.news/jpv55
Hong Kong jails pro-democracy media tycoon over fraud
- Jimmy Lai was arrested during a crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement following widespread protests in 2019
- His media company, Next Digital, published the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily
KFC Arabia and TBWA\RAAD’s Saudi campaign wins big at TikTok Ad Awards 2025
DUBAI: TikTok announced the winners of the TikTok Ad Awards 2025 at a ceremony held at the King Abdullah Financial District Conference Center in Riyadh on Wednesday, celebrating advertising campaigns on the platform from across the Middle East.
The top honor, G.O.A.T. (“Greatest of All Time”), which celebrates the best overall campaign combining creativity, media performance and proven effectiveness, went to the Saudi campaign “Om Bdr — 12th Ingredient,” developed by TBWA\RAAD for KFC Arabia.
The campaign was born out of Saudi user behavior on TikTok, which saw users dusting a seasoning created by a local cook named Om Bdr onto their KFC chicken. Picking up on this trend, KFC partnered with Om Bdr, adding her seasoning as its unofficial 12th spice.
Instead of focusing on trends or virality, the brand listened to its audience and “made the creator a partner,” said Ahmed Arafa, chief marketing officer at KFC Arabia.
He added: “This campaign was about respecting where the idea came from, crediting the community that discovered it, and turning cultural momentum into something real. Om Bdr’s seasoning belonged on our menu because our customers put it there first.”
The campaign emphasized authenticity, moving away from high-production studio shoots to filming inside actual KFC outlets, with minimal setup and featuring Om Bdr as herself.
As a result, KFC Arabia recorded its highest sales mix to date, while Om Bdr sold out of her own seasoning following the campaign.
“Om Bdr — 12th Ingredient” also won Gold in the Goal Digger category, which celebrates work that delivers measurable results, and Silver in the Community Core category, which highlights campaigns driven by creator and community collaborations.
The two firms also collaborated on another campaign, “Nuggets — Nugg it. Dip it. Crunch it.”, which ran across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, and won Bronze in the Sound On category.
The campaign centered on a looping audio track paired with videos focusing on picking, dipping and eating a nugget.
TikTok said the campaign promoted creator participation, with users adapting and reworking the audio in ways that felt native to the platform.
Saudi-based creative agency Habbar’s campaign, “14 Feb: Judgement Day!”, for online gift delivery service Floward, won Silver in the Goal Digger category.
The campaign took a humor-led approach to reflect the pressure and last-minute decision-making often associated with Valentine’s Day gifting, using creator collaborations and video formats designed to encourage sharing and commenting.
Other notable campaigns included “My Like First” by Lux, which ran in Saudi Arabia and the UAE and won Gold in the Community Core category, as well as “How I Crunch It” by Bugles, created by MRM and UM, which won Bronze in the Sound On category.
“The Ad Awards winners of this year show what’s possible when brands embrace TikTok not just as a media platform, but as a creative canvas,” said Shadi Kandil, general manager of global business solutions for the Middle East, Turkiye, Africa, Central and South Asia at TikTok.
