The international legal team of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has asked British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for an urgent meeting ahead of his trial on national security charges later this year.
Mr Lai – who holds British citizenship – could spend the rest of his life in prison on trial on charges of collusion with foreign forces and rebellion.
In a letter seen by JEE News, Mr Lai’s international legal team said they wanted to discuss “possible ways to secure Mr Lai’s release”.
Lawyers have described the case against him as “intense” and “symbolic”.
Jimmy Lai has already been in custody for two years, facing multiple charges. In December he was sentenced to an additional five years and nine months for breaching the lease agreement at the newspaper’s headquarters.
His supporters say that all the charges against him are politically motivated.
Mr Lai founded the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. For more than 25 years his tabloid was seen as the only opposition newspaper in Hong Kong. However, the newspaper was forced to close in June 2021 after its accounts were frozen and a number of senior staff were arrested under Hong Kong’s national security law.
Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the former British colony in 2020. Officials say there was a need to restore peace after a year of often violent protests. Critics say it is being used to silence Beijing’s political opponents through “legislation” — using the legal system as a political weapon.
Today, the majority of the political opposition is either in prison or has fled the area.
Mr Lai has long been seen as a prime target of the new legislation and his UK-based legal team has requested two consecutive meetings with foreign ministers, the first of which he said was rejected. was while the other answer was not given.
Earlier this month, the UK government agreed to allow the team to meet a Foreign Office minister, the letter said.
In the letter, Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC also highlighted that the US government had condemned Mr Lai’s fraud conviction in October but the UK government had not made a formal statement.
Speaking to JEE News, Mr Lai’s son Sebastian said his father should not be behind bars.
“This is the man who gave up so much for democracy in Hong Kong for twenty years, which was actually promised when Britain handed over Hong Kong to China,” he said.
Like his father, Sebastian is also a British citizen. He lives in self-imposed exile in Taiwan. Since his father’s arrest under the National Security Act, he is unsure if he can return home.
“He is a British citizen who is in prison for upholding the values that we all hold sacred,” the 28-year-old said of his father.
Hong Kong was handed back to China from British control in 1997, but under a unique treaty – a short constitution called the Basic Law and the so-called “one country, two systems” principle.
They must preserve certain freedoms for Hong Kong: freedom of assembly and speech, an independent judiciary and certain democratic rights – freedoms that are not enjoyed in any other part of mainland China.
However, the national security law makes it easier to prosecute protesters and critics say it has curtailed the city’s autonomy.
Mr Lai’s national security law trial has been adjourned until September 2023 with a decision on who is allowed to represent him.
He wanted British human rights lawyer Timothy Owen KC to represent him – but the Hong Kong government opposed this and the central Chinese government in Beijing has since ruled that John Lee, Hong Kong’s chief executive, be represented. Foreign lawyers have the power to bar national security cases. However, no final decision has been taken yet.
“The Lai case is a test case for fair trial and free speech,” said Eric Lai, a Hong Kong legal scholar.
Authorities have compared the seriousness of his alleged crimes – collusion with foreign forces and subversion – to murder.
“Jimmy Lai is a traitor who is manipulated by foreign powers and sells out his country for prosperity,” said Johnny Patriotic, a self-styled pro-Beijing activist who has often been outside the courtroom during Mr. Lai’s appearances. are, told JEE News.
Sebastian Lai, however, said his father had committed no crime.
“The crime is what he’s in jail for,” he said. The crime is ignoring him and not talking.
