SW News: Washington has condemned the conviction of prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy supporter and philanthropist Jimmy Lai by a court on Tuesday. US State Department spokesman Ned Prince said that the United States condemns the verdict on what it terms “spurious fraud charges”.

He warned that such steps to throttle media freedom undermine Beijing’s obligation as per international law to uphold the territory’s autonomy and civil liberties.

Washington said that the conviction of Lai, who owned the now-defunct Apple Daily, showed that civil liberties are fast ebbing in the city and its press is not where on the radar.

“We remain deeply concerned about the deterioration in protection for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the systematic dismantling of Hong Kong's autonomy under the National Security Law imposed by the Chinese government (PRC),” Prince said in a statement. He also urged Chinese authorities to restore freedom of the press in Hong Kong.

The Catholic philanthropists and two former executives of his firm were accused of fraud by subletting a part of the office space to a secretarial firm controlled by the media mogul himself. It was alleged that it violated the lease agreements with the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation. The second allegation of fraud was regarding the permission granted to the firm to use the media outlet’s office space, which the authorities said violated lease agreements.

Lai is already in jail for his role in the massive anti-government protests three years ago. He is also facing an upcoming trial regarding national security charges and if found guilty, he could get life imprisonment.