{"id":417150,"date":"2026-02-10T01:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T01:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/417150\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T01:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T01:49:09","slug":"uk-un-and-eu-deplore-monumental-injustice-of-jimmy-lais-20-year-jail-sentence-jimmy-lai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/417150\/","title":{"rendered":"UK, UN and EU deplore \u2018monumental injustice\u2019 of Jimmy Lai\u2019s 20-year jail sentence | Jimmy Lai"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK, the UN, EU and rights groups have condemned the sentencing of the pro-democracy activist and publisher Jimmy Lai, a British citizen who has been jailed for an unprecedented 20 years<\/a> in Hong Kong for national security convictions that critics say are politically motivated.<\/p>\n

Yvette Cooper, the UK foreign secretary, said: \u201cFor 78-year-old Jimmy Lai, 20 years is an effective life sentence, following a politically motivated prosecution under a law that was imposed to silence China\u2019s critics. The Hong Kong authorities must end Jimmy Lai\u2019s appalling ordeal and release him to be with his family.\u201d<\/p>\n

His son Sebastien said Lai feared dying alone while his legal team called him the world\u2019s current highest profile political prisoner.<\/p>\n

The UN rights chief, Volker T\u00fcrk, said the verdict was incompatible with international law and must be quashed. \u201cThis outcome highlights how the vague and overly broad provisions of Hong Kong\u2019s national security legislation can lead to being interpreted and enforced in violation of Hong Kong\u2019s international human rights obligations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Anitta Hipper, an EU spokesperson, said the bloc \u201cdeplores\u201d the outcome of Lai\u2019s years-long prosecution and called for his immediate and unconditional release.<\/p>\n

Sebastien Lai, who said his father \u2018fears not seeing his family again, he fears dying alone\u2019. Photograph: Corey Rudy\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Lai is the founder of Apple Daily, a popular pro-democracy newspaper that was forced to close in 2021, the year after his arrest. Once one of Hong Kong\u2019s richest men, Lai was unusual among Hong Kong\u2019s elites for also being an outspoken critic of the Chinese Communist party.<\/p>\n

He was arrested in 2020, weeks after the imposition of a draconian national security law in Hong Kong<\/a>. The law was introduced by Beijing in response to months of pro-democracy protests in the territory, which Lai and his newspaper had supported. Critics say that the law criminalises dissent. The Chinese and Hong Kong authorities say it was necessary to restore stability to the city, which has plummeted down media freedom<\/a> lists since the law was introduced.<\/p>\n

The 78-year-old British citizen was sentenced on Monday to 20 years in prison after being convicted<\/a> on one count of conspiracy to produce seditious material and two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. The collusion with foreign forces charges were brought under Hong Kong\u2019s punitive national security law.<\/p>\n

Lai\u2019s jail term is the harshest that has been handed down for a national security case in Hong Kong. The Chinese Nobel peace prize winner Liu Xiaobo<\/a> was sentenced to 11 years in prison for subversion of state power in mainland China. He died in hospital in 2017, surrounded by security guards.<\/p>\n

Lai\u2019s son Sebastien said on Monday that while expected, news of his father\u2019s long sentence had felt worse than he had anticipated, but it still brought him \u201crelief\u201d that the \u201cfarce\u201d of his father\u2019s trial had ended.<\/p>\n

\u201cDad knew that this was coming even when he was first arrested, and even when he started campaigning 30 years ago,\u201d said Sebastien, who hopes he will be able to see his father again. \u201cMy father feels fear the same way anyone feels fear. He fears not seeing his family again, he fears dying alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

While he said he did not doubt the will of No 10 to secure his father\u2019s release, he said the visa-free travel agreement<\/a> between the two nations announced after Keir Starmer\u2019s visit to Beijing had felt \u201ca bit tone deaf\u201d with his father still in prison. On Monday, the UK also announced<\/a> an expansion to its dedicated visa scheme for Hongkongers to come to the UK.<\/p>\n

Starmer said he raised Lai\u2019s case<\/a> when he met China\u2019s president, Xi Jinping, in Beijing in January. But it is not clear what, if any, progress the UK has made towards securing Lai\u2019s release.<\/p>\n

Sebastien Lai said: \u201cWhat\u2019s the upside for us? If we can\u2019t even get my father out, what does this relationship signify?. I\u2019m in a situation where I just have to put my faith in my country and in this government.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prime minister\u2019s official spokesperson said on Monday: \u201cWe condemn this politically motivated prosecution. We\u2019re clear that Beijing\u2019s national security law was imposed on Hong Kong to silence China\u2019s critics, and we\u2019ll continue to raise this case at the highest levels of the Chinese government, as indeed the prime minister did directly with President Xi.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sebastien Lai said Beijing was creating a \u201cmartyr hero\u201d in his father. Jonathan Price KC, a member of Lai\u2019s international legal team in London, said the sentence was a \u201cmonumental injustice\u201d and described the former media tycoon as \u201cthe most high profile political prisoner currently in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n

Thibaut Bruttin, the director general of Reporters Without Borders, said Lai was a symbol of media freedom in Hong Kong and it was a \u201cdark day for those who care about free press\u201d. \u201cToday, democracy is in jail in Hong Kong,\u201d Bruttin said.<\/p>\n

Lai\u2019s conviction and heavy sentence were widely anticipated. Hong Kong has a near 100% conviction rate for national security offences and Lai is considered to be the most high profile political enemy of the Chinese Communist party in Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous territory that is controlled by Beijing.<\/p>\n

Lai\u2019s sentence was welcomed by the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities.<\/p>\n

John Lee, Hong Kong\u2019s chief executive, said Lai \u201chas committed numerous heinous crimes, and his evil deeds were beyond measure. The severe sentence of 20 years\u2019 imprisonment imposed on him manifests that the rule of law is upheld and justice is done, and also brings great relief to all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lin Jian, the spokesperson for China\u2019s foreign ministry, said Hong Kong upheld the rule of law and Lai was the \u201cmastermind\u201d behind the unrest that shook the territory in 2019 and 2020. He called the prosecution \u201clegitimate, justified, lawful and beyond reproach\u201d and urged other countries not to interfere in China\u2019s internal affairs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UK, the UN, EU and rights groups have condemned the sentencing of the pro-democracy activist and publisher…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417151,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-417150","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-greatbritain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}