More than 100 journalists and editors have signed an open letter calling for the immediate release of Jimmy Lai, a British media mogul detained in Hong Kong on national security charges.
Leading global media figures including the Guardian editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, and Nobel peace prize winner Maria Ressa called for the charges against Lai and other journalists in Hong Kong to be dropped.
Lai, who is 75 and was first arrested in 2020, is the founder and publisher of Apple Daily, a liberal newspaper that was forced to close in 2021 after the Chinese Communist party cracked down on pro-democracy protests. A longtime critic of the party, Lai is now one of the most high-profile activists in Hong Kong to have been arrested since the Chinese government imposed a sweeping national security law on the territory in 2020.
Lai was charged with violating the national security law in August 2020. His trial for that case is scheduled for September, but since his arrest he has been convicted on separate charges of fraud and organising illegal protests – charges that his supporters say are politically motivated.
The signatories to the letter, which was organised by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), said: “We, as publishers and editors of news media organisations from around the world, are united in support of Apple Daily founder and publisher Jimmy Lai, and his fight for media pluralism and press freedom in Hong Kong.
“Jimmy Lai has stood for these values his entire life … In a tremendous act of courage, he chose to stay in Hong Kong and continued to publish as long as he could, despite the severe crackdown taking place around him.”
Hong Kong is ranked 140th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2023 World Press Freedom Index, down from 58th place 10 years ago.
In March, Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, Lai’s international lawyer, said the tactics used by Hong Kong’s authorities amounted to “lawfare” – the use of legal mechanisms to suppress opposition – citing the fraud conviction as a tool to smear Lai’s character.
On 11 May Hong Kong passed a law allowing authorities to ban foreign lawyers from working on national security cases, as a means of preventing Lai from engaging Tim Owen, a UK barrister, in his coming trial.
Lai’s supporters have also criticised the UK government for not doing enough to advocate for Lai’s release. Last week Sebastian Lai, the elder Lai’s son, said the UK government was “incredibly weak” for failing to call for the release of his father.
A spokesperson for the UK Foreign Office said it had “regularly” brought its concerns to Chinese and Hong Kong authorities, including the foreign secretary raising Lai’s case at the UN Human Rights Council in February.
“We have made clear our strong objection to China’s imposition of the national security law in Hong Kong, which is being used in a deliberate attempt to target and silence pro-democracy figures, including Jimmy Lai,” the spokesperson said.