Jimmy Lai: Hong Kong pro-democracy tycoon will not appeal conviction

Jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai is not appealing his conviction under the city's controversial national security law. Members from his international legal team told the BBC that their domestic counterparts were given "clear and definitive" instructions from Lai not to appeal. They did not say why, and declined to comment further. Lai was convicted for conspiracy with others to publish seditious material and conspiracy to collude with foreign forces - charges which he has always denied - and was sentenced to 20 years in jail last month. The tycoon faced a separate conviction for fraud, which was overturned last month in an successful legal appeal. Lai's national security case had hinged on a meeting he had with the US' then vice-president Mike Pence and then secretary of state Mike Pompeo at the height of the 2019 pro-democracy protests. Lai has insisted that he has never used his foreign contacts to influence foreign policy on Hong Kong, and that the meeting was just to discuss the situation in Hong Kong at the time. His 20-year sentence was the harshest punishment to be handed down under the national security law, which China imposed after the 2019 protests. Lai, a