What to know about Catholic Jimmy Lai’s Hong Kong journey from media mogul and activist to convict

HONG KONG — To his supporters, former Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai is a fighter for democracy. To the government, he is a traitor to his motherland.

The 78-year-old outspoken critic of China’s ruling Communist Party was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison for conspiring to commit sedition and collude with foreign forces.

Observers say his trial came to symbolize a crackdown that began in 2020 on press and other freedoms that has changed Hong Kong, the former British...