UK – The Guardian, March 07, 2025
Worries mount for health of media mogul and pro-democracy activist, 77, as his trial nears end.
The son of the jailed Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai has called for an urgent meeting with the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, saying he was “desperate” as his father’s defence drew to a close in a high-profile trial.
Sebastien Lai said a fresh diplomatic push was now needed to free the 77-year-old pro-democracy activist, who holds British citizenship and has been kept behind bars in Hong Kong since December 2020.
Jimmy Lai’s lawyers have complained about his conditions in detention and say they are increasingly worried about his health.
“I don’t want my father to die in jail,” Sebastien Lai told AFP in London. “I need to meet with the prime minister imminently.”
This week Lai concluded more than 50 days of courtroom testimony as he fights charges of foreign collusion under Hong Kong’s national security law. The law was imposed by China to quell dissent after pro-democracy protests in 2019.
