The city’s biggest labor union on Monday threw its weight behind the High Courtdecision to jail Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily, for 20 years for violating the Hong Kong SAR National Security Law (NSL).

The decision manifested Hong Kong’s resolve to safeguard national security and its core value – the rule of law – the Federation of Trade Unions said in a statement following the court’s sentence on Monday.

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The three national security judges—Esther Toh Lye-ping, D’Almada Remedios, and Alex Lee Wan-tang—handed down the sentence after Lai was found guilty in December on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of conspiracy to publish seditious materials. Lai's associated companies, Apple Daily Ltd, Apple Daily Printing Ltd, and AD Internet Ltd, were each fined HK$3,004,500 ($384,000).

Calling the sentence fair and just, the union said since the implementation of the NSL, the sentence is a significant demonstration of how the rule of law safeguards the principle of "one country, two systems" and defends Hong Kong's prosperity and stability, laying a solid legal foundation for Hong Kong's long-term peace and order.