00:00A Hong Kong court overturns the fraud conviction and prison sentence of pro-democracy media tycoon
00:06Jimmy Lai. This in a surprise legal decision that comes soon after Lai was sentenced to jail
00:11for 20 years on a separate national security charge. Judges say they allowed the appeal from
00:17Lai to proceed as a lower court judge had erred. Even with the quashing of the fraud conviction
00:22and sentence, Lai will still remain in prison for 20 years over two counts of conspiracy to
00:27collude with foreign forces and one for publishing seditious materials. This legal victory was a rare
00:32one for the prominent China critic who faced multiple prosecutions in recent years. Lai,
00:37founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily, was among many activists arrested in the aftermath of Hong
00:42Kong's 2019 pro-democracy protests. The 78-year-old British citizen has denied all the charges against
00:48him and calls himself a political prisoner facing persecution from Beijing.
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