The son of prominent Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai has called for his father’s release in a high-profile national security case.
Sebastien Lai told reporters in Washington that the prison conditions where his 77-year-old father is being held in solitary confinement are “inhumane for anybody, any age”.
“There is a real fear that he might pass away at any time,” said the son, who is leading an international campaign to free his father.
“This year will be the fifth year for him to be in prison.”
The case has drawn widespread international condemnation and is seen as evidence of the erosion of press freedom and judicial independence in Hong Kong.
The elder Lai, founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper known for its anti-Beijing stance, is standing trial on charges of colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security and of conspiring with others to issue seditious publications. The collusion charge carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Mr Lai is hoping Donald Trump will help secure his father’s release (Keystone via AP)
Last year, Lai pleaded not guilty to all charges. On March 6, he presented his final testimony and lawyers from both sides are expected to return to court to deliver their closing statements in August.
He has been convicted in four separate cases involving fraud and unauthorised assemblies and has been given sentences totalling more than seven years, according to Amnesty International.
Lai, an outspoken critic of Beijing, was arrested in 2020 during a crackdown following anti-government protests in Hong Kong a year earlier.
The Beijing and Hong Kong governments say a strict national security law helped restore stability to Hong Kong after the demonstrations.
Lai has spent more than 1,500 days in solitary confinement in a cell without natural light. Hong Kong’s government said in a statement last year that the separation of Lai from other inmates “has been made at his own request” and was approved by prison authorities.
“This is completely insane,” the younger Lai said. “It is disgusting. He also asked for release.”
Jimmy Lai is the publisher of the now-defunct Apple Daily (Keystone via AP)
The US and UK governments and independent UN human rights experts have called for the publisher’s release. In America, Lai has bipartisan support on Capitol Hill and he could have President Donald Trump on his side.
During his election campaign, Mr Trump told Hugh Hewitt on a podcast that he would secure Lai’s release. “One-hundred percent. I’ll get him out,” Mr Trump said.
Responding to Mr Trump’s comments, Hong Kong leader John Lee said the US should not interfere in Hong Kong’s internal affairs.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters last November that Lai is a major figure in the rise of anti-China sentiments in Hong Kong and a “pawn of anti-China forces”.
The younger Lai and the former publisher’s international legal team are in Washington to meet with legislators and senior officials close to Mr Trump.
“President Trump was the first US president that mentioned my father by name,” Lai’s son said. “It is looking more hopeful now.”