UK foreign secretary says pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai’s Hong Kong jail term is ‘tantamount to life sentence’
The UK foreign secretary has said a 20-year jail term handed down by a Hong Kong court to pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai is “tantamount to a life sentence”.
The 78-year-old media tycoon and British citizen was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of publishing seditious materials in December last year.
He had denied all the charges against him, saying in court he was a “political prisoner” facing persecution from Beijing.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper agreed with that assessment and, in a statement, called the sentence a “politically motivated prosecution” aimed at Mr Lai “for exercising his right to freedom of expression”.
“For the 78-year-old, this is tantamount to a life sentence. I remain deeply concerned for Mr Lai’s health, and I again call on the Hong Kong authorities to end his appalling ordeal and release him on humanitarian grounds, so that he may be reunited with his family,” she added.
Mr Lai’s lawyer gave no comment when asked if he would appeal his sentence.
On Sunday, the Hong Kong court said that Lai’s sentence was in the most severe penalty “band” for offences of a “grave nature”, and that it was enhanced by his being the “mastermind” and driving force behind foreign collusion conspiracies.
Lai, who founded the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, was arrested in August 2020 after China imposed a national security law following massive anti-government protests in Hong Kong.
The longstanding critic of the Chinese Communist Party had previously been sentenced for several lesser offences during his five years in prison.
Teresa Lai (red top), wife of Jimmy Lai, leaves West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts. Pic: Reuters
Lai has spent more than 1,800 days in solitary confinement. His family say his health has worsened as a result and that he suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and heart palpitations.
The head of Hong Kong police’s National Security Department said on Monday, however, that claims of his frail health are “exaggerated”.
Speaking after the verdict, Sky’s Asia correspondent Helen-Ann Smith said that she spoke to Lai’s biographer Mark Clifford last month.
“He’s really the embodiment of what they fear,” she cites the author and close friend of the jailed tycoon as saying.
“A principled person, absolutely refusing to back down, smart, articulate, and crucially with a platform.”
Lai’s plight has been criticised by world leaders, including US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir
Starmer.
Sir Keir discussed the case with Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, according to people briefed on the talks.
Britain’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, and China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, were also present.
“I raised the case of Jimmy Lai and called for his release,” Sir Keir told MPs in parliament after his trip. “Those discussions will continue, and the foreign secretary is in touch with Mr Lai’s family.”
Several Western diplomats told Reuters news agency that negotiations to free Lai would likely start in earnest after his sentencing, and depending on whether he appeals.
Speaking to Reuters after the verdict, a former Apple Daily reporter who gave his name as Wong said that “now that ‘red lines’ have formally become part of the judgments and sentences, the news industry – already severely weakened – will shrink even further”.
He added: “If the sentences are used to set the boundaries at the maximum level, it won’t just add insult to injury for press freedom; it will be an avalanche.”
Lai in 2020. Pic: Reuters
Elaine Pearson, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, added that the “harsh” imprisonment is “effectively a death sentence” for Lai.
“A sentence of this magnitude is both cruel and profoundly unjust,” she said.
“Lai’s years of persecution show the Chinese government’s determination to crush independent journalism and silence anyone who dares to criticise the Communist Party.”
Read more from Sky News:
North Korea ‘executes schoolchildren for watching Squid Game’
Toddler held by ICE ‘nearly died’ in detention, lawsuit claims
Meanwhile, the Taiwanese government called for Lai’s release in a statement from its China-policy-making Mainland Affairs Council.
“Jimmy Lai’s harsh sentence under Hong Kong’s National Security Law not only deprives him of his personal liberty and tramples on freedom of speech and press freedom, but also denies the people’s basic right to hold those in power accountable,” it said.
