Sharing information 'is delivering freedom,' Jimmy Lai says at Hong Kong trial

washington — 

Wearing a grey overgarment and flanked by situation officers, pro-democracy steadfast Jimmy Lai smiled and waved to supporters Wednesday arsenic helium entered the Hong Kong courtroom.

For his son, Sebastien, Lai's grounds astatine his nationalist information proceedings proceeding was a accidental to spot — from afar — however his 77-year-old begetter is doing.

Sebastien Lai followed the proceeding from Washington, wherever helium has been advocating for his father's release.

Lai's planetary ineligible squad says the steadfast has been denied entree to specialized aesculapian attraction for diabetes. Based connected Wednesday's tribunal appearance, Sebastien said it's wide that his father's carnal wellness has worsened.

"It's incredibly heartbreaking that helium spent the past astir 4 years successful solitary confinement," helium said Wednesday during a property conference.

After the property conference, Lai told VOA that it was "bittersweet" to spot that his father's intelligence wellness has remained strong, adjacent arsenic his carnal wellness has worsened.

"His tone is holding strong. His caput is holding strong," Sebastien told VOA.

Lai accused of sedition

Jimmy Lai's tribunal quality connected Wednesday marked the archetypal clip the erstwhile steadfast provided grounds successful a high-profile proceedings that started astir 1 twelvemonth ago. The lawsuit was initially expected to past astir 80 days. His planetary ineligible squad present expects the proceedings to proceed into 2025.

Lai is accused of collusion with overseas forces and sedition. The British nationalist rejects the charges, but if convicted, helium faces beingness successful prison.

Rights groups and overseas governments person condemned the lawsuit against Lai arsenic politically motivated, which Hong Kong officials dispute.

In a much than 700-word connection to VOA, a Hong Kong authorities spokesperson said it was "inappropriate" to remark connected the lawsuit due to the fact that ineligible proceedings are ongoing.

The spokesperson said that Hong Kong "rejected immoderate fact-twisting remarks and baseless smears against the ineligible strategy and safeguarding of rights and state successful Hong Kong."

Publisher strived to present 'freedom'

A one-time billionaire, Lai founded the Apple Daily paper successful 1995. The paper closed successful 2021 aft authorities jailed its staff, raided its office, and froze millions of its assets.

In court, Lai said helium decided to get into the media concern "to enactment successful delivering information, which is delivering freedom."

"The much accusation you have, the much you are successful the know, the much you're free," Lai said.

"The halfway values of Apple Daily are really the halfway values of the radical of Hong Kong," Lai added. These values, helium said, see the "rule of law, freedom, pursuit of democracy, state of speech, state of religion, state of assembly."

Lai told the tribunal that helium opposed unit and "never allowed" his newspaper's unit to advocator for Hong Kong independence, which helium characterized arsenic a "conspiracy" and "too brainsick to deliberation about."

Earlier successful the trial, prosecutors alleged that Lai had requested that overseas governments, including the United States, enforce sanctions oregon "engage successful different hostile activities" aimed astatine the Hong Kong oregon Chinese governments.

In court, Lai testified that helium had "never" utilized his overseas contacts to power overseas argumentation connected Hong Kong.

Lai's plight illustrates however property state and broader civilian liberties person declined successful Hong Kong pursuing the implementation of Beijing's nationalist information instrumentality successful 2020, according to Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, the caput of Lai's planetary ineligible team.

"Jimmy Lai is connected proceedings successful Hong Kong, but journalism is connected proceedings successful Hong Kong, too," Gallagher said Wednesday astatine the Washington property conference.

Earlier this year, Hong Kong introduced a caller instrumentality known arsenic Article 23 that rights experts accidental volition erode civilian liberties adjacent more. In September, 2 journalists from Hong Kong's now-shuttered Stand News were sentenced to jailhouse for sedition. And this week, 45 pro-democracy activists were sentenced to situation nether the nationalist information law.

Lai's lawsuit symbolizes the broader battle connected freedoms taking spot successful Hong Kong, according to Gallagher.

"His lawsuit was designed to nonstop a chill down the spine of anyone who mightiness privation to deterioration a T-shirt oregon sing a opus oregon station a Tweet oregon accidental thing which mightiness basal up to Hong Kong oregon Beijing's leaders," Gallagher told VOA astatine the property conference.

Lai's lad 'cautiously optimisic'

There are presently much than 1,900 governmental prisoners jailed successful Hong Kong, according to the Washington-based nonprofit Hong Kong Democracy Council.

Diplomatic unit volition beryllium the cardinal to securing Lai's release, Gallagher said.

She cited this past August's historical captive swap betwixt Russia and the United States, which included the merchandise of American journalists Alsu Kurmasheva and Evan Gershkovich, arsenic an illustration of the benignant of originative reasoning that is needed to assistance Lai.

"With creativity and governmental will, you tin bash what mightiness look impossible," Gallagher said.

Lai's lad Sebastien said helium remains "cautiously optimistic" astir the imaginable of his father's freedom.

"I'm incredibly arrogant of what he's doing, and I deliberation helium knows that he's besides doing the close thing," Sebastien said.