(Hong Kong – November 15, 2023) Catholic leaders from around the world have signed a petition calling “on the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to immediately and unconditionally release” democracy advocate Mr. Jimmy Lai, putting an end to the persecution against him.
The media tycoon who ushered in a new era of democratic journalism in Hong Kong through Apple Daily is set to face trial in Hong Kong’s High Court on December 18 after nearly three years of imprisonment. The court anticipates that the trial will last at least 80 days.
The 75-year-old Jimmy Lai Chee-ying is a well-known supporter of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. He is also an author, publisher, and founder of Apple Daily, which was once the most popular independent Chinese-language newspaper in Hong Kong. It has since been forcibly shut down by the authorities. Over the years, he has been widely regarded as an outspoken advocate for democracy in Hong Kong.
Lai was first arrested in August 2020 on charges related to the then-recently enacted controversial National Security Law in Hong Kong. He has been held in prison since December of that year. Initially, he was held in pretrial detention, later convicted, and sentenced for participating in peaceful democratic gatherings and commemorating anniversary events related to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Currently, he is serving a sentence for a conviction of conspiracy to defraud, a charge widely criticized as an abuse of law to suppress dissent and freedom of speech. Jimmy Lai is awaiting trial on charges of incitement to subversion, and after repeated delays, his trial has been scheduled to begin on December 18, 2023.
Recently, ten Catholic bishops and archbishops from around the world signed a petition urging the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government to “immediately and unconditionally release Jimmy Lai.”
The petition, signed by bishops representing dioceses and archdioceses from the United States, India, Australia, Lithuania, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Nigeria, “Mr. Lai’s persecution for supporting pro-democracy causes through his newspaper and in other forums has gone on long enough,” the prelates wrote.
The bishops further wrote:
There is no place for such cruelty and oppression in a territory that claims to uphold the rule of law and respect the right to freedom of expression. In standing up for his beliefs and committing himself through his faith to challenge autocracy and repression, Jimmy Lai has lost his business, been cut off from his family, and has just surpassed 1,000 days in prison, while facing the prospect of many more years of incarceration to come.
“He is 75 years old,” the bishops said. “He must be freed now.”
Catholic Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing of the Hong Kong Diocese did not participate in the joint appeal calling for the Hong Kong government to release Jimmy Lai.
The Hong Kong government, in a statement released on the evening of the 9th, rejected the joint petition. A spokesperson expressed that “the HKSAR Government firmly rejects and strongly disapproves of the fact-twisting remarks made by the foreign Catholic leaders to inappropriately interfere in the HKSAR’s internal affairs and the HKSAR courts’ independent exercise of judicial power.”
In addition to Lai, the implementation of the “National Security Law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region” in recent years, driven forcefully by Beijing, has led to the arrests and convictions of several religious figures in Hong Kong. Among those affected was retired Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing of the Hong Kong Diocese, who was charged with “collusion with foreign forces,” and Pastor Garry Pang Moon-yuen, who was sentenced to one year in prison for “sedition.” The “Good Neighbour North District Church” associated with the pro-democracy movement, was searched by the Hong Kong police in 2020, and its HSBC bank accounts were frozen. The church’s pastor Roy Chan Hoi-hing and his family had to flee to the United Kingdom.
Jimmy Lai, born in 1947, became a British citizen in 1996. He founded the Asian clothing retailer Giordano, the Hong Kong-listed media company Next Digital, and the popular newspaper Apple Daily. He is a significant contributor to the pro-democracy camp, particularly to the Democratic Party. Jimmy Lai is a longtime supporter of the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement, he is a devout Catholic.
