If the sentence handed to the media mogul Jimmy Lai was meant to surprise, it would have been shorter. Twenty years behind bars is not a burst of rage. It is a sentence designed to make repression routine in Hong Kong. The 78-year-old founder of the shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily is now likely to die in prison after being convicted of sedition. The court was telling Hongkongers what kind of place they now live in, and signalling to foreign governments what kind of relationship Beijing expects them to accept.…
Tag: Jimmy Lai
Hong Kong’s once-vibrant press stays silent or celebrates Jimmy Lai’s 20-year jail sentence
Hong Kong’s once-vibrant media outlets have responded with silence or celebration to the 20-year jail sentence handed down to Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy media tycoon and critic of the Chinese Communist party. Lai, 78, was sentenced on Monday to 20 years in prison after being convicted of sedition and colluding with foreign forces under Hong Kong’s national security law. The charges were widely seen as being politically motivated and designed to silence one of Hong Kong’s most influential pro-democracy campaigners. Lai is the founder of Apple Daily, a popular pro-democracy…
Jimmy Lai’s sentencing tells me this: democracy is dead in Hong Kong, and I escaped just in time | Nathan Law
Waking up on Monday morning to the news of the pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai’s 20-year prison sentence for national security offences felt surreal. I could have easily been in his position if I hadn’t fled Hong Kong right before the implementation of the notorious national security law (NSL), under which Lai has faced the harshest penalty ever given. In fact, Lai chose to stay and stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Hong Kong in the face of an uncertain and repressive future. Now his family fears that he…
Jimmy Lai: will Hong Kong media tycoon die in jail? – The Latest
The media mogul and prominent pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong for national security offences. His family has described the sentence as ‘heartbreakingly cruel’, given the 78-year-old’s declining health. Lai was convicted in December on charges of sedition and conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, after pleading not guilty to all charges. Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s senior China correspondent, Amy Hawkins – watch on YouTube The Guardian
UK, UN and EU deplore ‘monumental injustice’ of Jimmy Lai’s 20-year jail sentence
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 20 years in Hong Kong for national security convictions that critics say are politically motivated. Yvette Cooper, the UK foreign secretary, said: “For 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’s critics. The Hong Kong authorities must end Jimmy Lai’s appalling ordeal and release him to…
EU calls for ‘immediate’ release of Jimmy Lai after ‘politically motivated prosecution’ – Europe live
From 1h ago EU calls for ‘immediate and unconditional’ release of Jimmy Lai after his jail sentence The European Union has called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of the Hong Kong pro-democracy figure, Jimmy Lai, after he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the harshest penalty handed down for national security offences in Hong Kong. In a strongly worded statement released just now, a spokesperson for the EU’s diplomatic service said the EU “deplores the heavy prison sentence” and called for his immediate release, “also in consideration of…
Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong pro-democracy figure, sentenced to 20 years in prison for national security offences
Jimmy Lai, a once mighty media mogul and prominent pro-democracy activist, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in Hong Kong for national security offences. The sentencing is the culmination of a years-long saga that critics say represents Hong Kong’s transformation from a mostly free city to one where dissent is fiercely suppressed by the Chinese Communist party-controlled authorities. Lai, 78, was convicted in December on charges of sedition and conspiracy to collude with foreign forces. He had pleaded not guilty to all charges. The collusion convictions carry a…
Jimmy Lai sentencing: Hong Kong court to rule on pro-democracy media mogul after conviction – live updates
Hello, Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong’s former media mogul is set to be sentenced on Monday, following a months-long trial in which the 78-year old was convicted on national security offences. Lai, a British citizen and founder of the now defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was found guilty last December of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, as well as one count of publishing seditious materials. At the time of his verdict, Esther Toh, one of the three government-vetted national security judges who oversaw Lai’s trial, wrote: “There is…
Jimmy Lai’s son says UK government did not do enough to help him on China visit
The British son of the jailed Hong Kong media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai has criticised the UK government for failing to place conditions on his father’s release during the prime minister’s visit to China last week. Speaking at a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday, Sebastien Lai said his father’s incarceration was not only a humanitarian and national security issue, but an issue “where our values are being locked up” along with him. Sebastien Lai says time is running out for his father, who is in poor health. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian The…
The Guardian view on Keir Starmer in China: engagement is necessary, caution is vital | Editorial
It has been clear for many years that China’s status as a second global superpower poses challenges to the world’s democracies. Donald Trump’s marauding behaviour as president of the first-placed superpower makes those challenges more acute. In the past, the UK’s relationship with Beijing has been anchored, and sometimes dictated, by the alliance with Washington. Mr Trump’s contempt for former allies, expressed as sabotage of Nato and a scattergun imposition of tariffs, scrambles the old strategic calculus. This is an ominous backdrop for Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to Beijing. The…