Hong Kong jail is ‘breaking’ Jimmy Lai, son says

In his tireless global campaign to save 77-year-old media publisher Jimmy Lai from life imprisonment in Hong Kong, Sebastien Lai has not seen his father for more than four years.

Sebastien, who leads the #FreeJimmyLai campaign, last saw his father in August 2020 — weeks after Beijing imposed a national security law that led to a massive crackdown on pro-democracy advocates and journalists. Among them Lai, founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily.

After nearly four years in Hong Kong’s maximum-security Stanley Prison and multiple delays to his trial, the aging British citizen was due to take the stand for the first time on November 20 on charges of sedition and conspiring to collude with foreign forces, which he denies.

In an interview with CPJ’s Beh Lih Yi, Sebastien spoke about prison’s toll on his father, why he should be released immediately, and how Britain and other nations are supporting that effort.  

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-CPJ demands Hong Kong end Lai’s show trial