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Release Prisoner of Conscience Jimmy Lai Now!

On December 11, 2020, Jimmy Lai was charged under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law (NSL) with two counts of “conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign countries or external elements” and one count of “collusion with foreign countries or external elements.” He has been continuously detained since December 31, 2020.

Hong Kong authorities said the charges related to the publication of articles in Apple Daily, a newspaper owned by Lai, that called on foreign countries to impose sanctions. Shortly after the NSL was introduced on June 30, 2020, nearly 200 police raided the newspaper’s headquarters. It was the first time the law was invoked to search a media outlet’s premises, and Lai was arrested along with his two sons and several newspaper executives.

Apple Daily closed in June 2021 following another police raid and the freezing of its assets, in what Amnesty at the time called a “brazen attack on press freedom.”

Urge Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok to immediately release Jimmy Lai - send your email using our email-writing tool.

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Secretary of Justice

Paul

Lam Ting-kwok

Secretary for Justice

Dear Secretary Lam:

I am writing you regarding the case of Jimmy Lai Chee-Ying 黎智英, founder of the now-defunct Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily. He was the first prominent pro-democracy figure in Hong Kong to be arrested under the National Security Law (NSL) and subjected to a string of prosecutions in retaliation for the exercise of his rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly during the 2019 mass protests. He has been detained since December 31, 2020.

Over the period 2021-2022, Hong Kong courts convicted Lai in four separate cases involving “unauthorized assemblies” and fraud and handed down prison sentences totaling over seven years. Jimmy Lai is currently on trial on national security charges over his role at Apple Daily, a case that has infringed on press freedom and freedom of expression. He faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted under the NSL.

I urge you to drop all charges against and release Jimmy Lai and other individuals who are prosecuted solely for peacefully exercising their rights and to ensure no one is criminalized for exercising the rights to freedom of the press, expression, peaceful assembly and association.

Moreover, the Hong Kong government should implement the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Committee to immediately repeal the current NSL and the sedition provisions of the Crime Ordinance.

I thank you for your attention to these concerns, and I look forward to your reply.

Kind regards,
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