Governments and rights groups yesterday condemned the conviction of Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai (黎智英), who was found guilty on all three charges in his national security trial, which could send him to prison for the rest of his life
Beijing has rejected the international backlash, accusing critics of “smearing” the Chinese territory’s judicial system.
Three government-vetted judges found Lai, 78, guilty of conspiring with others to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiracy to publish seditious articles. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Photo: Reuters
Sebastien Lai (黎崇恩), one of his children, said the family was saddened, but not surprised by the verdict.
“In the 800-page verdict they have there is essentially nothing, nothing that incriminates him,” he told reporters in London. “This is a perfect example of how the National Security Law has been molded and weaponized against someone who essentially said stuff that they didn’t like.”
“This verdict proves that the authorities still fear our father, even in his weakened state, for what he represents,” his daughter Claire said in a statement. “We stand by his innocence and condemn this miscarriage of justice.”
Media advocates say the trial highlights dying press freedoms under a national security law imposed by Beijing following huge and at times violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Diplomats from the US and the EU were among those watching as the verdicts were pronounced, with Matthias Kaufmann, deputy head of the EU mission to Hong Kong and Macau, saying he came to the court “to signal close interest in these cases.”
London condemned the “politically motivated prosecution” of Lai, who is a British citizen.
“Jimmy Lai has been targeted by the Chinese and Hong Kong governments for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression,” a statement by the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said, calling for his immediate release.
“The UK has repeatedly called for the National Security Law to be repealed and for an end to the prosecution of all individuals charged under it,” it said.
The Australian government said it was “deeply concerned by the guilty verdict.”
“We have been clear in expressing our strong objections to Hong Kong authorities on the continuing broad application of national security legislation to arrest and pressure pro-democracy figures, opposition groups, media, trade unions and civil society,” the Australian Ministry for Foreign Affairs said.
Rights group Amnesty International said that Lai’s conviction “feels like the death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong, where the essential work of journalism has been rebranded as a crime.”
Reporters Without Borders expressed outrage at the verdict, calling the charges “trumped-up.”
“This unlawful conviction only demonstrates the alarming deterioration of media freedom in the territory. Make no mistake: it is not an individual who has been on trial — it is press freedom itself, and with this verdict that has been shattered,” the organization said.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called the verdict a “disgraceful act of persecution.
” and underscores “Hong Kong’s utter contempt for press freedom.”
“The ruling underscores Hong Kong’s utter contempt for press freedom, which is supposed to be protected under the city’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law,” CPJ’s Asia-Pacific director Beh Li Yi (馬麗怡) said.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association said the trial has long “caused irreversible damage to Hong Kong’s press.”
It described a media climate of self-censorship and fear “to the point where even those in power cannot accurately assess public sentiment through news.”
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