Jimmy Lai, the 78-year-old founder of Hong Kong's now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, has been awarded the Deutsche Welle (Germany's international public broadcaster) Freedom of Speech Award while serving a 20-year prison sentence in Hong Kong. Lai, a British citizen, was convicted in February under Hong Kong's national security law — imposed by Beijing in 2020 — on charges including conspiracy to collaborate with foreign forces, a ruling condemned by rights groups and the British government as politically motivated. The award, to be presented in absentia at the DW Global Media Forum in Bonn on 23 June, highlights growing international concern over the suppression of press freedom in Hong Kong, where Lai was once one of the most prominent voices of the pro-democracy movement.