The Hong Kong High Court’s sentencing of Jimmy Lai, Apple Daily founder and democracy advocate, to 20 years in prison is a devastating blow to media freedom in the city.

Hong Kong pro-democracy figure and former media tycoon Jimmy Lai is sentenced to 20 years in prison in a Beijing-imposed national security case.

Two editors and an opinion writer from Jimmy Lai’s now-shuttered newspaper were each sentenced to 10 years in prison, a significant escalation in media prosecution in the once freewheeling city.

Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy former Hong Kong media tycoon and a fierce critic of Beijing, was sentenced on Monday to 20 ...