The Independent backs calls for jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai to be released

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The Independent has backed calls for jailed Hong Kong media tycoon and prominent Beijing critic Jimmy Lai to be released from prison.

The 75-year-old, who set up the now closed Apple Daily newspaper, was sent to prison after a high-profile fraud case filed by Hong Kong authorities after a crackdown on the pro-democracy movement.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), who campaign for freedom of the press globally, have released a statement calling for the release of Mr Lai.

The Independent’s Editor-in-Chief Geordie Greig has signed to support the campaign and the “fight for media press freedom in Hong Kong.”

Mr Lai was jailed last year for six years after being convicted of fraud and also faces charges under Hong Kong’s security law, which has been enforced by China to more easily silence protesters.

It was imposed on Hong Kong on 2020 after months of anti-government protests and has led to the arrest of a number of prominent activists.

Mr Lai is the most prominent of what became known as the Hong Kong 47 - a group of pro-democracy activists who are all currently on trial for subversion.

The defendants include 39 men and eight women aged between 23 and 64, who have all been caught up in China’s wider crackdown on dissidents.

If Mr Lai is convicted of the charges against him he is likely to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Earlier this month Mr Lai’s son, Sebastien Lai, criticised both the UK for failing to speak out against the crackdown on protesters in Hong Kong.

Speaking at an event in Washington about the human rights situation in Hong Kong he slammed the “hypocrisy” displayed by some governments still trying to trade with China as unexpected.

“We are incredibly grateful that the Americans have been a lot stronger on these values that we all share… than the UK government. The UK government has been incredibly weak,” he said.

He criticised the UK government for not calling on authorities in Hong Kong to release his father, who is a British national.

“It’s very sad to see a democratic government being afraid or asking permission, even to speak on behalf of one of its citizens that is in prison for freedom of speech. It’s just ridiculous,” he added.

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, and founded Apple Daily to ensure that the people of Hong Kong had access to vital independent information. 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.

Now it is our turn to stand up for Jimmy Lai, whose detention serves only to damage the reputation of the authorities in both China and Hong Kong. The arbitrary charges against him are clear violations of Chinese, Hong Kong, and international law.

In targeting this 75 year-old press freedom emblem, the Chinese regime has taken its attempts to control information beyond its borders, and made it a concern for the entire world. When press freedom is threatened anywhere, it is threatened everywhere.

Together with Reporters Without Borders (RSF), we stand with Jimmy Lai. We believe he has been targeted for publishing independent reporting, and we condemn all charges against him. We call for his immediate release, for the national security charges against him to be dropped, and for his convictions on other charges to be overturned.

We note that the case against Jimmy Lai takes place as part of a broader press freedom crackdown in Hong Kong, and are deeply concerned by the rapid deterioration of Hong Kong’s press freedom climate, as reflected in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index.

We call for the immediate release of all 13 of the currently detained journalists, and for any remaining charges against all 28 journalists targeted under national security and other laws over the past three years to be dropped.

We also call for immediate steps to allow for the reinstatement of media that have been forced to close, including Apple Daily and Stand News, which have served as devastating blows to media freedom in Hong Kong.

The universal right to press freedom must be protected for the people of Hong Kong and around the world.