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The son of a British media tycoon jailed in Hong Kong says the Government\u2019s failure to call for his release is \u201cshameful\u201d.<\/p>\n
Billionaire and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai will mark his 1,000th day behind bars on Tuesday. He faces a life sentence under charges relating to a national security law that campaigners claim is being used to silence journalists and stamp out dissent.<\/p>\n
The US, EU Parliament and the UN have all called publicly for Mr Lai, 75, to be released, his son Sebastien told reporters this week.<\/p>\n
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly raised the businessman\u2019s case on a visit to Beijing last month. But the British government has not explicitly called for his release and Sebastien\u2019s requests for a meeting with Mr Cleverly and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have so far fallen on deaf ears.<\/p>\n
Sebastien, 28, said: \u201cEven now, they\u2019re not using language such as \u2018call for his release\u2019. I think – as a British citizen – it\u2019s pretty shameful.\u201d<\/p>\n
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He added: \u201cI don\u2019t know what the Foreign Secretary is thinking. If they are willing to sacrifice human rights, the freedoms that we have here, for trade, then I think it\u2019s a big misstep.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daily Express editor Gary Jones was among more than 100 global media leaders who signed an open letter in May urging that the charges against Mr Lai and other Hong Kong journalists be dropped.<\/p>\n
Mr Lai founded the Chinese-language newspaper Apple Daily, which was one of the few mainstream publications that was critical of China.<\/p>\n
He was arrested in 2020 following the introduction of a new national security law that has been used by authorities to crackdown on press freedom. The media mogul, who only holds a British passport, was found guilty of fraud last year in a contractual dispute.<\/p>\n
He now faces further national security charges including \u201ccollusion with foreign forces\u201d. He was due to stand trial on September 25 but the case is now expected to be delayed until at least mid-December.<\/p>\n
Sebastien branded the legal action a \u201cshow trial\u201d and said he has not seen his father in three years.<\/p>\n
Photographs recently emerged of Mr Lai in prison, taken from a distance. Sebastien said: \u201cSome part of me was happy because he\u2019s still the same – dad\u2019s still there. But the sad truth is that he is in prison.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe looks young for 75\u2026he\u2019s standing firm, still resilient and hopeful, but you never know what\u2019s going to happen tomorrow at that age.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to see my father die in jail so it\u2019s incredibly important that we keep bringing attention to his case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Don’t miss… <\/strong> Sebastien and his legal team are travelling the globe seeking international support for Mr Lai\u2019s release.<\/p>\n They have met with junior minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan three times and said there did appear to be \u201cthe will to help\u201d.<\/p>\n However, Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, who leads Sebastien\u2019s international media team, said the Government was \u201cspeaking out of both sides of its mouth\u201d.<\/p>\n She warned that, in some similar cases, the Foreign Office had only spoken out after imprisoned Britons had been convicted, and urged ministers to speak \u201cin a more robust way now, when it can make a difference\u201d.<\/p>\n Ms Gallagher added: \u201cWe feel that the only way that the current grim trajectory is going to change is international pressure on Hong Kong and China.<\/p>\n \u201cSebastien and his father are facing a powerful enemy in the Chinese state, and it feels at the moment as if we\u2019re facing a war on two fronts.<\/p>\n \u201cNot only are you having to battle with the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities, you\u2019re also having to have a fight with your own government to try to get them to be more robust.\u201d<\/p>\n We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n Fiona O\u2019Brien, UK bureau director at Reporters Without Borders, said Mr Lai\u2019s case was set against the backdrop of a \u201ctotal collapse of independent journalism in Hong Kong\u201d.<\/p>\n A team from her organisation recently managed to enter the country and meet with journalists for the first time since the pandemic. They described feeling surveilled and unable to write freely.<\/p>\n The UK has a \u201cmoral responsibility\u201d to speak out up in support of Mr Lai, Ms O\u2019Brien said. She added: \u201cWe should be the loudest, and actually we\u2019re the weakest.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy is it not possible for the Prime Minister, for the Foreign Minister, to say very clearly in Parliament: \u2018This is an outrage. Our citizen shouldn\u2019t be in prison.\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: \u201cAs the Foreign Secretary made clear this week in his latest report to Parliament on Hong Kong, British national Jimmy Lai\u2019s prosecution has been highly politicised. Mr Lai and others are being deliberately targeted to silence criticism under the guise of national security.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Foreign Secretary raised Mr Lai\u2019s case with his counterpart as a matter of priority in Beijing last month, and the Minister for the Indo-Pacific met Sebastien Lai last week to continue discussion of his father\u2019s case.\u201d<\/p>\n Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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