Hong Kong democracy activist Jimmy Lai has again been sentenced to several years in prison.

The judge responsible found the 75-year-old media entrepreneur on Saturday guilty of violating the rental agreement for the offices of his newspaper "Apple Daily", which has since been discontinued under massive pressure from the authorities.

He was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison.

Lai is one of the most prominent activists in Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement.

In the meantime, however, this has been brought to a de facto standstill by the authorities with massive pressure.

Lai had recently completed a 20-month prison sentence for his role in protests against the Beijing-installed Hong Kong government.

In another trial, the founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily faces life imprisonment for alleged violations of national security.