Jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and former owner of Apple Daily Jimmy Lai was awarded the 33rd annual Liberty Medal by the National Constitution Center on Tuesday. Lai was awarded the honor for his courage and conviction in exercising the fundamental rights of freedom of speech, nonviolent resistance, and peaceful dissent. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, described Lai as a “freedom hero” in a video of the ceremony held online due to the pandemic. “You’ve sacrificed your own freedom and well-being in order to help secure the blessings of liberty for others,” Rosen said. “And you have rejected the idea that criticism of a government can legitimately be punished as sedition, inspiring others to continue fighting for freedom of Hong Kong.” In 1995, Lai’s company, Next Digital, founded Apple Daily—a widely-read tabloid frequently critical of the Hong Kong government and the Chinese Communist Party. The newspaper …