The former pro-democracy newspaper publisher was sentenced for offences under the controversial national security law.

Jimmy Lai's niece in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., says her uncle's 20-year sentence came as "heartbreaking" news for her family, especially her mother, Lai's twin sister.

By James Pomfret and Jessie Pang HONG KONG, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's most prominent media tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced on Monday to 20 years in jail on national security charges, including two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one of publishing seditious materials.

Lai's supporters say this amounts to a death sentence, but authorities say it demonstrates the rule of law.

HONG KONG -- Prominent democracy advocate Jimmy Lai was a child stowaway from mainland China who rose to become Hong Kong’s onetime media magnate. Unlike other rags-to-riches tycoons who cultivated ties with Beijing, he chose to become its fierce critic.

Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in a landmark national security trial. CNN’s Kristie Lu Stout takes a look at how press freedom has changed in the city over the past two decades.

The diplomatic tensions came after pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years in one of the city's most prominent prosecutions.

Dozens of those lined up outside the Hong Kong court where Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 20 years on Monday had been there all night, keeping vigil. They’d camped out so as to be in position to