Outcry erupts after Hong Kong convicts pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai

Global legal bodies urge the UK to seek Jimmy Lai’s transfer after Hong Kong conviction

The global legal community has urged the UK government to seek the repatriation of British citizen Jimmy Lai following his conviction in Hong Kong on national security charges, prompting renewed concern over the erosion of human rights and the rule of law in the territory.

Lai, a 78-year-old media entrepreneur and founder of the now-closed Apple Daily newspaper, was found guilty of conspiring to collude with foreign forces and conspiring to publish seditious materials. He denied the charges. The offences carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) said the conviction amounted to a “death sentence” unless urgent action was taken by world leaders to secure Lai’s release. The body described the case as an example of “lawfare” and said the trial had been politically motivated.

According to IBAHRI, Lai’s conviction was “a foregone conclusion after a dishonestly conducted and politically motivated trial designed to destroy the most influential pro-democracy voice in Hong Kong under a veneer of legality”.

Lai was first arrested in 2020 and has spent nearly five years in detention. Authorities portrayed him as a leading instigator of the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. He is already serving a sentence of more than five years in relation to a separate fraud dispute.

IBAHRI said Lai had been held in solitary confinement for more than 1,800 days and was in ill health. It warned that his age and physical condition made the prospect of a life sentence particularly grave.

“Jimmy Lai is a 78-year-old man, in ill-health, who has been held in solitary confinement for over 1,800 days,” the organisation said. “His sentence per his conviction this month – a maximum of life imprisonment – now represents a death sentence unless urgent action is taken by world leaders to seek his release.”

The human rights body called on the UK government to negotiate Lai’s immediate transfer to the United Kingdom, arguing that his case represented a test of Britain’s commitment to human rights and freedom of expression.

IBAHRI said Lai’s convictions under Hong Kong’s National Security Law and a colonial-era sedition law amounted to the criminalisation of journalism. It noted that the National Security Law had been widely condemned as contrary to international law but had nevertheless been applied broadly in Hong Kong for political purposes.

The organisation warned that the case marked a further deterioration of democracy and the rule of law in Hong Kong. It said Lai’s conviction formed part of a broader pattern involving the detention of opposition figures, journalists and activists, alongside the destruction of the independent press.

The International Bar Association has previously warned that the expansion of state control under the National Security Law has also undermined the independence of the legal profession, with lawyers increasingly targeted during the crackdown.