'Pray for Jimmy Lai and Hong Kong’s pro-democracy campaigners', Benedict Rogers

After a long legal battle, they brace for jail terms because they stood for democracy

If you are a praying person, and if you pray for Hong Kong and China, this week is a crucial one for prayer.

On Tuesday, Nov. 19, we expect a Hong Kong court to sentence at least 45 of 47 pro-democracy elected legislators and campaigners to jail in the biggest trial so far under the city’s National Security Law.

Most of the defendants have already been in prison for almost four years — and they may serve more time behind bars. Why? Because they stood for democracy.

The next day, on Nov. 20, the trial of Hong Kong’s most internationally renowned dissident, a devout Catholic and 76-year-old British citizen Jimmy Lai, will resume. And it will do so with the backdrop of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluding just last week that Lai, a hugely successful entrepreneur, is unlawfully and arbitrarily detained and should be immediately released.

The resumption of Lai’s trial coincides perfectly with this year’s annual “Red Wednesday,” a global campaign highlighting the persecution of Christians around the world.

In this campaign, which was started by the brilliant Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need in 2016, prominent political, civic, historic and religious buildings around the world are lit up in red, in solidarity with those persecuted for their faith.

As Lai, Hong Kong’s most prominent Catholic prisoner of conscience and the founder of the now defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, approaches the fourth anniversary of his imprisonment, as the UN calls for his immediate release, as his family and friends worry about his health and as the authorities continue to deny him — a person of devout faith — the very basic right to receive the Blessed Sacrament, Catholics around the world and indeed people of faith and humanity everywhere have a responsibility to pray for Jimmy Lai as he takes the witness stand and fights for his life.

In Lai’s fight for freedom, there are several groups of people who have a cast-iron responsibility to stand by him. And only the first is exercising it.

The first is his family, friends and those who love him, a few politicians around the world who have been consistent in their support, and his brave, brilliant domestic and international legal teams. They will always stand by him.

His courageous son Sebastien, who leads the #FreeJimmyLai campaign, is doing so tirelessly.

In response to the ruling by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention last week, Sebastien Lai described his father’s treatment as “inhumane” and called on governments around the world “to secure my father’s freedom, and save his life.”

He deserves our respect, support and prayers. I — among others — will never give up offering these to him and trying to free my friend Jimmy Lai.

But beyond that circle, we have to build bigger, wider and more robust support.

First, there is the British government — that has a duty to him, as a British citizen, to secure his release. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy — who met Sebastien last week — have made supportive statements, but they need to do much more.

Second, there is the Vatican — and Pope Francis — who have a responsibility to campaign and pray for his freedom, given that he is one of the region’s most prominent Catholics.

Silence is complicity — and the Vatican’s silence on Lai’s case is unacceptable.

As the great German Protestant theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who stood up against Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, put it: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

Red Wednesday provides the pope with a perfect opportunity to end his silence and pray for Lai and Hong Kong, publicly.

And thirdly, there are steps that we can all take, as ordinary people around the world. People of all faiths, political beliefs and nationalities can be mobilized to campaign for the freedom of all political prisoners in Hong Kong.

Catholics — and all Christians of all traditions — should take the opportunity on Red Wednesday, as Lai’s trial resumes, to pray for him and to promote the cause on social media, using the #FreeJimmyLai hashtag.

Go to your church and light candles for Lai and the Hong Kong 45. Ask your priest to include them in prayers during Mass. Pay close attention to the sentencing of the 45 former legislators and activists on Nov. 19, and put pressure on your governments to act.

Jimmy Lai and the 45 former legislators and activists are facing potentially a very grave injustice — on top of the multiple injustices they have already endured. It is time for that to change.

As Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, who heads Lai’s international legal team, said in response to the UN ruling, “he should not spend another minute in prison.”

She is right. #FreeJimmyLai now and release the Hong Kong 45.

The article was published in UCA News on 18 November 2024.