HONG KONG, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai was found guilty on Monday of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of sedition under a China-imposed national security law that could see him jailed for life.
Lai had pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, and a charge of conspiracy to publish seditious material.
Following are comments on the verdict:
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS:
“This sham conviction is a disgraceful act of persecution. The ruling underscores Hong Kong’s utter contempt for press freedom, which is supposed to be protected under the city’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law. Jimmy Lai’s only crime is running a newspaper and defending democracy. The risk of him dying from ill health in prison increases as each day passes — he must be reunited with his family immediately.”
MARK SABAH, UK AND EUROPE DIRECTOR, COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM IN HONG KONG (CFHK) FOUNDATION:
“This verdict should surprise absolutely no one.”
“The trial against Jimmy Lai has been a grotesque exercise in legal subversion and chicanery — a show trial masquerading as justice. But what’s actually been on display is the complete and total destruction of Hong Kong’s reputation as a global legal centre.
“Jimmy Lai is a British citizen. His release should be a condition of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s planned trip to Beijing in January.”
(Reporting by Jessie Pang and James Pomfret; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Michael Perry)
