A legal source confirmed to the SCMP on Friday that Lai, 78, would not file an application to the Court of Appeal before the usual 28-day deadline for lodging an appeal in criminal proceedings expires on Monday.

While Lai can still file an appeal after the deadline, he must give compelling reasons as to why he did not do so earlier within the time period specified by the law.

Last month, the founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid-style newspaper was sentenced to 20 years in prison over his conviction on two conspiracy counts of collusion with foreign forces and a third of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious articles.

After a trial that lasted 156 days, three Court of First Instance judges hand-picked by the chief executive to hear national security cases found that he had used his newspaper and network of international contacts to push for sanctions against the local and central governments.

Six former senior executives at Apple Daily also received sentences ranging from six years and nine months to 10 years for conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, while two activists were jailed for up to seven years and three months for the same offence.

The judges also imposed fines totalling more than HK$9 million (US$1.15 million) on three companies responsible for the newspaper’s operations.