United Nations Experts Call For Immediate Release Of Jimmy Lai
Jimmy Lai and Martin Lee at the Hong Kong 1 July marches in 2013. (Public domain photo)
(ANALYSIS) At the end of January, a group of independent United Nations human rights experts called on the authorities in Hong Kong to drop all charges against Jimmy Lai and release him immediately.
Jimmy Lai, a British citizen, owner of the independent newspaper Apple Daily and pro-democracy and human rights defender, has been detained and subjected to multiple Kafkaesque trials for fighting for freedom of speech and democracy in Hong Kong.
In their official statement, the experts, including Irene Khan, special rapporteur on the protection and promotion of freedom of opinion and expression; Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, special rapporteur on the rights of freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; Alice Jill Edwards, special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; and Ben Saul, special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, among others, expressed their concerns in relation to the multiple and serious violations of Jimmy Lai’s human rights.
They lamented the breaches of his freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, and his right to a fair trial, including the denial of access to a lawyer of his own choosing and the handpicking of judges by the authorities.
Jimmy Lai has been subjected to what international lawyers refer to as “lawfare,” namely, a way in which the law is being weaponized to silence and slur reputations. Lawfare has been widely used against journalists and human rights defenders globally, most notably against Filipino American journalist and Nobel laureate Maria Ressa and award-winning Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. In Galizia’s case, the lawfare (libel suits) continued years after she was assassinated.
As part of the lawfare against Jimmy Lai, he was convicted of unauthorized assembly in 2021 for his participation in pro-democracy protests and sentenced to 17 months in prison. He was sentenced to an additional five years and nine months for alleged fraud in October 2022. He is also facing a trial under the controversial National Security Law.
As the United Nations’ experts raised, “national security legislation with criminal sanctions should never be misused against those exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association and of peaceful assembly, nor to deprive such persons of their personal liberty through arrest and detention.” However, this is precisely how the law is being used in Hong Kong, especially against pro-democracy and human rights defenders.
The NSL has been criticized by many governments, international bodies, experts and civil society organizations for its flagrant contravention of international legal standards, as being dangerously vague and broad, and as such, being an invitation to abuse.
In 2023, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong, a cross-party group of legislators in the British Parliament, indicated that “NSL was a turning point in accelerating and deepening an already growing crisis to freedom of expression and the Rule of Law in Hong Kong.” Reportedly, since its enactment in 2020, the NSL has led to the arrests of over 200 people, including 12 children.
In December 2023, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that “Hong Kong’s National Security Law is a clear breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Its continued existence and use is a demonstration of China breaking its international commitments. It has damaged Hong Kong, with rights and freedoms significantly eroded.
“Arrests under the law have silenced opposition voices. I am gravely concerned that anyone is facing prosecution under the National Security Law, and particularly concerned at the politically motivated prosecution of British national Jimmy Lai. As a prominent and outspoken journalist and publisher, Jimmy Lai has been targeted in a clear attempt to stop the peaceful exercise of his rights to freedom of expression and association.”
The case of Jimmy Lai is emblematic of the wider situation of media freedom and the Rule of Law in Hong Kong.
Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, the lead of Jimmy Lai’s international legal team, stated: “Jimmy Lai is a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned due to his work as a peaceful pro-democracy campaigner, writer and media owner. ... China and Hong Kong have attempted to silence him, by prosecuting him for illegitimate reasons, under an illegitimate law, and in a legal system which is now profoundly unfair. The entire process is riddled with breaches of Mr Lai’s internationally protected rights.”
Unfortunately, the calls for Jimmy Lai’s release continued to be ignored by the authorities in Hong Kong.
This piece was republished from Forbes with permission.
Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab is a human rights advocate, author and co-founder of the Coalition for Genocide Response. She’s authored the book “Never Again: Legal Responses to a Broken Promise in the Middle East” and more than 30 UN reports. She works on the topic of genocide and persecution of ethnic and religious minorities around the world. She is on X @EwelinaUO.