{"id":350462,"date":"2025-12-15T22:54:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T22:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/350462\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T22:54:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T22:54:10","slug":"governments-and-rights-groups-condemn-conviction-of-hong-kong-activist-jimmy-lai-jimmy-lai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/350462\/","title":{"rendered":"Governments and rights groups condemn conviction of Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai | Jimmy Lai"},"content":{"rendered":"

Governments, institutions and rights groups across the world have condemned the conviction<\/a> of the former pro-democracy media tycoon and British citizen Jimmy Lai<\/a> in Hong Kong on national security charges.<\/p>\n

The 78-year-old was found guilty in West Kowloon district court on Monday of one count of conspiracy to publish seditious publications and two counts of conspiracy to foreign collusion. The charges were brought under the city\u2019s punitive national security law<\/a> , introduced in 2020, and a British colonial-era sedition law that has been used in recent years by authorities.<\/p>\n

Lai faces spending the rest of his life in prison, amid increasing fears about his physical condition. A diabetes sufferer, he is thought to have lost about 10kg in the past year.<\/p>\n

Yvette Cooper, the British foreign secretary, said: \u201cThe UK condemns the politically motivated prosecution of Jimmy Lai that has resulted in today\u2019s guilty verdict. Jimmy Lai has been targeted by the Chinese and Hong Kong governments for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression \u2026 We continue to call for Mr Lai\u2019s immediate release.\u201d<\/p>\n

She later told parliament the Chinese ambassador to the UK had been summoned over Lai\u2019s conviction.<\/p>\n

The Australian government said it was \u201cdeeply concerned by the guilty verdict\u201d while the EU said the outcome was \u201cemblematic of the erosion of democracy and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong\u201d. Taiwan\u2019s mainland affair\u2019s council said the conviction had caused \u201cprofound sorrow\u201d in Taiwan.<\/p>\n

\"HongHong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai convicted of national security offences \u2013\u00a0video<\/p>\n

On Monday US president Donald Trump said he feels \u201cso badly\u201d about Lai\u2019s conviction and has asked China\u2019s leader Xi Jinping to consider his release. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, also called on China<\/a> to release him.<\/p>\n

Lai is the founder of Apple Daily, a hugely popular pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong that was forced to close in 2021. He was arrested in 2020<\/a> and has spent more than five years behind bars during a lengthy trial that has been delayed several times.<\/p>\n

Lai was accused of using Apple Daily and political connections, particularly in the US, to lobby for foreign governments to impose sanctions on China and Hong Kong after the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2019 and 2020. Lai pleaded not guilty to all charges.<\/p>\n

There has been particular criticism over the fact that the prosecution case used messages and meetings from before the national security law was in effect as part of its evidence. The law cannot be applied retroactively and Lai said he never called for sanctions after it had taken effect, as \u201cit would be suicidal to do so\u201d.<\/p>\n

But in their 855-page judgment, the judges, who are picked by the government for national security cases, said the evidence was \u201cclear\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sarah Brooks, the China director for Amnesty International, said: \u201cThe conviction of Jimmy Lai<\/a> feels like the death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong. This verdict shows that Hong Kong\u2019s so-called national security laws are not in place to protect people, but to silence them. It should also serve as a warning to all people doing business in Hong Kong: that pursuing opportunities in the city comes with severe legal risks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters in London on Monday, Lai\u2019s son Sebastien Lai said while the guilty verdict was not a surprise, it was \u201cstill painful\u201d. \u201cIt signifies a Hong Kong that has completely changed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sebastien Lai said the guilty verdict showed Hong Kong \u2018has completely changed\u2019. Photograph: Jill Mead\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Sebastien Lai and his father\u2019s international legal team called on the UK government to make his release a precondition for closer relations between London and Beijing. Keir Starmer<\/a> has called for Lai\u2019s release and has raised the case directly with China\u2019s president, Xi Jinping. The UK prime minister is expected to visit Beijing in January.<\/p>\n

Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, the head of the international legal team, said there was \u201cno use shouting into the wind\u201d and statements in support of Lai needed to be backed up by concrete action. \u201cChina needs to see there are real consequences\u201d for Lai\u2019s prosecution, Gallagher said.<\/p>\n

Thibaut Bruttin, the director of Reporters Without Borders, said: \u201cWe are outraged that Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong\u2019s symbol of press freedom, has been found guilty on trumped-up national security charges. This unlawful conviction only demonstrates the alarming deterioration of media freedom in the territory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper also called for Lai, who has been kept in solitary confinement for more than 1,800 days, to be given full access to independent medical professionals. Earlier this month, his family said<\/a> Lai had lost a significant amount of weight, his nails were becoming discoloured and falling off, and his teeth were rotting. The closing arguments in Lai\u2019s trial were delayed at one point because he was suffering from heart palpitations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lai\u2019s daughter Claire Lai said: \u201cHaving spent the last few years in Hong Kong, I have personally witnessed my father\u2019s rapidly failing health. He is 78 and has spent five years in terrible conditions, we are worried about how much more he can bear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sebastien Lai said on Monday that his father, who has a British passport, \u201ccould have left at any point\u201d but that he stayed to give \u201ceverything that he has for the freedom of others\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said that if Lai was allowed to die in jail Hong Kong would die \u201cwith my father\u201d. The government would have \u201carbitrarily and vindictively killed a man for his journalism, for his criticism\u201d, he said, describing his father as \u201ca man who lives with no regrets\u201d.<\/p>\n

Earlier in December, the Hong Kong government said Lai\u2019s medical provision in prison was \u201cadequate and comprehensive\u201d.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s foreign ministry said: \u201cWe urge the relevant countries to \u2026 not make irresponsible remarks on the trial of judicial cases in Hong Kong and not to interfere in Hong Kong\u2019s judiciary or China\u2019s internal affairs in any form.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Chinese embassy in London criticised the UK government\u2019s statement. The embassy said Cooper\u2019s comment \u201cblatantly interferes in China\u2019s internal affairs and tramples on the rule of law, and seriously violates the basic norms governing international relations\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Governments, institutions and rights groups across the world have condemned the conviction of the former pro-democracy media tycoon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350463,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-350462","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}