Former media mogul and well-known democracy advocate Jimmy Lai has been jailed for a total of 20 years by a court for his role in anti-government protests in 2019, despite calls from Britain, the US and international human rights organizations to release him.
The 78-year-old businessman, founder of the newspaper Apple Daily, which has suspended publication, was found guilty on December 15 of three charges, including collaboration with foreign powers and inciting sedition through the press, and his conviction was based on the National Security Law imposed by China after mass pro-democracy protests in 2019. The law carries particularly severe penalties. for offenses related to cooperation with foreign powers, from ten years to life in prison.
In the 856-page ruling, the judges noted that Jimmy Lai “harbored enmity and hatred” toward China for much of his adult life and sought to “overthrow the Communist Party.”
International reactions and interventions
Jimmy Lai, who holds a British passport, has been in custody since 2020 and remains in solitary confinement at “his own request”, according to authorities. His family has repeatedly expressed concerns about his deteriorating health.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, called for the conviction to be overturned, calling for his “immediate release on humanitarian grounds”.
This verdict “demonstrates how vague and overbroad provisions of Hong Kong’s national security law can be interpreted and applied in violation of Hong Kong’s international human rights obligations. It should be canceled quickly because it is inconsistent with international law,” Volker Turk commented in a statement.
Besides, the High Commissioner “demands the immediate release of Jimmy Lai on humanitarian grounds, given his advanced age, state of health and the effects of having already spent more than four years in detention”.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he raised the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping during recent talks in Beijing, while British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned the actions as “political persecution.” For his part, US President Donald Trump had expressed the hope that the Chinese leader would arrange for his release.
For her part, the press representative of the European Commission for foreign affairs and security policy, Anita Hipper, argued that: “The politically motivated prosecution of Jimmy Lai and former Apple Daily executives and journalists damages the reputation of Hong Kong. The EU calls on the Hong Kong authorities to restore confidence in press freedom in Hong Kong, one of the foundations of its historic success as an international financial centre, and to stop prosecuting journalists.”
Fury of human rights organizations
Amnesty International called the sentence “an attack on freedom of expression”, underscoring that it reflects the systematic dismantling of the rights that once characterized Hong Kong.
Human Rights Watch called it a “de facto death penalty” due to Lai’s age, while Reporters Without Borders said the trial was a critical indicator of the future of press freedom in the region. The Committee to Protect Journalists described the process as a “masquerade from start to finish”.
Beijing’s response
Chinese authorities reject international criticism, with Hong Kong authorities arguing that Jimmy Lai’s case is not related to freedom of expression or the press, but to national security violations.
Lai’s conviction, however, heightens the international community’s concerns about the state of human rights and freedom of the press in the former British colony.
