washington — Wearing a gray jacket and flanked by prison officers, pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai smiled and waved to supporters Wednesday as he entered the Hong Kong courtroom.
For his son, Sebastien, Lai’s testimony at his national security trial hearing was a chance to see — from afar — how his 77-year-old father is doing.
Sebastien Lai followed the hearing from Washington, where he has been advocating for his father’s release.
Lai’s international legal team says the publisher has been denied access to specialized medical care for diabetes. Based on Wednesday’s court appearance, Sebastien said it’s clear that his father’s physical health has worsened.
“It’s incredibly heartbreaking that he spent the last almost four years in solitary confinement,” he said Wednesday during a press conference.
After the press conference, Lai told VOA that it was “bittersweet” to see that his father’s mental health has remained strong, even as his physical health has worsened.
“His spirit is holding strong. His mind is holding strong,” Sebastien told VOA.
Lai accused of sedition
Jimmy Lai’s court appearance on Wednesday marked the first time the former publisher provided testimony in a high-profile trial that started nearly one year ago. The case was initially expected to last about 80 days. His international legal team now expects the trial to continue into 2025.
Lai is accused of collusion with foreign forces and sedition. The British national rejects the charges, but if convicted, he faces life in prison.
Rights groups and foreign governments have condemned the case against Lai as politically motivated, which Hong Kong officials dispute.
In a more than 700-word statement to VOA, a Hong Kong government spokesperson said it was “inappropriate” to comment on the case because legal proceedings are ongoing.
The spokesperson said that Hong Kong “rejected any fact-twisting remarks and baseless smears against the legal system and safeguarding of rights and freedom in Hong Kong.”
Publisher strived to deliver ‘freedom’
A one-time billionaire, Lai founded the Apple Daily newspaper in 1995. The newspaper closed in 2021 after authorities jailed its staff, raided its office, and froze millions of its assets.
In court, Lai said he decided to get into the media business “to participate in delivering information, which is delivering freedom.”
“The more information you have, the more you are in the know, the more you’re free,” Lai said.
“The core values of Apple Daily are actually the core values of the people of Hong Kong,” Lai added. These values, he said, include the “rule of law, freedom, pursuit of democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly.”
Lai told the court that he opposed violence and “never allowed” his newspaper’s staff to advocate for Hong Kong independence, which he characterized as a “conspiracy” and “too crazy to think about.”
Earlier in the trial, prosecutors alleged that Lai had requested that foreign governments, including the United States, impose sanctions or “engage in other hostile activities” aimed at the Hong Kong or Chinese governments.
In court, Lai testified that he had “never” used his foreign contacts to influence foreign policy on Hong Kong.
Lai’s plight illustrates how press freedom and broader civil liberties have declined in Hong Kong following the implementation of Beijing’s national security law in 2020, according to Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, the head of Lai’s international legal team.
“Jimmy Lai is on trial in Hong Kong, but journalism is on trial in Hong Kong, too,” Gallagher said Wednesday at the Washington press conference.
Earlier this year, Hong Kong introduced a new law known as Article 23 that rights experts say will erode civil liberties even more. In September, two journalists from Hong Kong’s now-shuttered Stand News were sentenced to jail for sedition. And this week, 45 pro-democracy activists were sentenced to prison under the national security law.
Lai’s case symbolizes the broader assault on freedoms taking place in Hong Kong, according to Gallagher.
“His case was designed to send a chill down the spine of anyone who might want to wear a T-shirt or sing a song or post a Tweet or say anything which might stand up to Hong Kong or Beijing’s leaders,” Gallagher told VOA at the press conference.
Lai’s son ‘cautiously optimisic’
There are currently more than 1,900 political prisoners jailed in Hong Kong, according to the Washington-based nonprofit Hong Kong Democracy Council.
Diplomatic pressure will be the key to securing Lai’s release, Gallagher said.
She cited this past August’s historic prisoner swap between Russia and the United States, which included the release of American journalists Alsu Kurmasheva and Evan Gershkovich, as an example of the kind of creative thinking that is needed to help Lai.
“With creativity and political will, you can do what might seem impossible,” Gallagher said.
Lai’s son Sebastien said he remains “cautiously optimistic” about the prospect of his father’s freedom.
“I’m incredibly proud of what he’s doing, and I think he knows that he’s also doing the right thing,” Sebastien said.
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