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Six former Apple Daily employees have been jailed for up to 10 years in a landmark national security case, with judges saying they played ?affirmative and extensive roles.?

Cheung Kim-hung, Chan Pui-man, Ryan Law, Lam Man-chung, Fung Wai-kong, and Yeung Ching-kee appeared alongside their former boss, media mogul Jimmy Lai, at the West Kowloon Law Courts Building on Monday to receive their sentences.

The former newspaper staff members, alongside Lai, were accused of conspiring to collude with foreign powers. The employees? sentences were handed down after judges announced a 20-year jail term for Lai. The media mogul pleaded not guilty and sat through a 156-day trial.

Law, former editor-in-chief of Apple Daily; Lam, former executive editor-in-chief of Apple Daily; and Fung, former managing editor of Apple Daily?s English version, all received 10-year sentences.

Cheung, ex-CEO of the newspaper?s parent company Next Digital; Chan, Apple Daily?s former associate publisher; and ex-editorial writer Yeung were given shorter sentences as they testified against Lai.

Cheung, Chan and Yeung were jailed for six years and nine months, seven years, and seven years and three months, respectively.

The six defendants have already been remanded since mid-2021, when they were arrested. They pleaded guilty in November 2022.

In a reasons for sentence document, the three judges presiding over the case ? Alex Lee, Esther Toh, and Susana Maria D?Almada Remedios ? wrote that Lai was ?no doubt the mastermind.?

While it was harder to identify the ?relative culpability? of the other co-defendants, all of them were ?knowing parties and their roles were active, affirmative and extensive,? the judges said.

Under the national security law, foreign collusion offences considered of ?grave nature? should see sentences of no less than 10 years. The judges set the starting point of the six former Apple Daily staff?s sentences at 15 years.

The judges noted that Cheung, Chan and Yeung were ?truthful witnesses? whose evidence in favour of the prosecution ?significantly contributed? to Lai?s conviction.

?A lighter and reduced penalty than the starting point may be imposed,? the judges wrote.

Besides their assistance to the prosecution, Cheung, Chan and Yeung were also given discounts for other factors.

Cheung and Chan had ?good character,? the judges wrote, and both were involved in charity work ? though they noted that Cheung?s contributions were more significant.

Meanwhile, the judges said they were ?not without sympathy? for Yeung?s family situation. His wife was left permanently disabled after a brain haemorrhage in August 2022, and their son quit his job and became a full-time carer to his mother.

The judges granted Yeung a discount ?purely on humanitarian grounds,? according to the document.

The other three former Apple Daily staffers were not given any discounts beyond the customary one-third relief for pleading guilty.

Besides the Apple Daily staff, activists Wayland Chan and Andy Li ? also co-defendants ? received their sentences on Monday.

Both Chan and Li testified for the prosecution. Chan was jailed for six years and three months, while Li was jailed for seven years and three months.

Three companies linked to the newspaper ? Apple Daily Limited, Apple Daily Printing Limited and AD Internet Limited ? were each fined HK$3,004,500. All three companies are already insolvent.

?Despite their incapacity to pay, their penalties have to reflect the objective seriousness of the conduct and to have the necessary general deterrent effect,? the judges wrote.

Speaking to reporters outside the court after the jail terms were handed down, Steve Li, chief superintendent of the police?s National Security Department, welcomed the sentences.

He said police would be in contact with the Department of Justice to consider whether the authorities wanted to seek longer sentences through appeals.

Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure.

The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.

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x Hillary Leung is a journalist at Hong Kong Free Press, where she reports on local politics and social issues, and assists with editing. Since joining in late 2021, she has covered the Covid-19 pandemic, political court cases including the 47 democrats national security trial, and challenges faced by minority communities.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Hillary completed her undergraduate degree in journalism and sociology at the University of Hong Kong. She worked at TIME Magazine in 2019, where she wrote about Asia and overnight US news before turning her focus to the protests that began that summer. At Coconuts Hong Kong, she covered general news and wrote features, including about a Black Lives Matter march that drew controversy amid the local pro-democracy movement and two sisters who were born to a domestic worker and lived undocumented for 30 years in Hong Kong.

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