Washington D.C. – Radio Free Asia, February 19, 2025
The son of jailed pro-democracy media magnate Jimmy Lai has warned that “time is running out” for his father’s health, and called on Britain and the United States to push for his release.
“His body is breaking down … It’s akin to torture,” Sebastien Lai told Reuters ahead of the Human Rights and Democracy summit in Geneva on Feb. 18. “Time is running out for my father.”
Lai, 77, has spent more than 1,500 days behind bars, and is diabetic. He is a British citizen. In jail since his arrest in December 2020, Lai is currently standing trial for “collusion with foreign forces” under Hong Kong’s National Security Law. He has also been handed separate sentences for lighting a candle and praying for the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, for irregularities in the use of his newspaper’s office space, and for taking part in the 2019 protests.
Sebastien Lai called on global leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump — who has pledged to help get Lai out of jail — and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, to take urgent action, as his father faces his fourth year of solitary confinement.
“We are incredibly grateful that [Trump] said that. It gives us a lot of hope,” Sebastien Lai said, but called for a stronger response from the United Kingdom.
“If (Britain) wants to normalize relations, they shouldn’t normalize citizens being arrested for standing up for democracy,” he said.
