'Release Jimmy Lai immediately, says UN working group', Benedict Rogers

Catholic entrepreneur and British citizen Jimmy Lai is being held in prison in Hong Kong unlawfully, a United Nations body ruled last week just days before his trial under the city’s draconian National Security Law is due to resume. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found multiple violations of Mr Lai’s fundamental rights and freedoms and called for his immediate release. 

Caoilfhionn Gallahger KC, who heads Mr Lai’s international legal team, described the ruling as “excoriating” and “a resounding endorsement of what we have said all along”. Mr Lai, she added, “should not spend another minute in prison.” Sebastien Lai, Mr Lai’s son, who leads the #FreeJimmyLai campaign, described his father’s treatment as “inhumane” and called on governments around the world “to secure my father’s freedom, and save his life.”

The UN group also urged the Hong Kong authorities to provide the 76 year-old pro-democracy activist and founder of the now defunct Apple Daily newspaper with compensation, and conduct a full and independent investigation into his arbitrary and unlawful detention. 

Concerns have grown in recent months about the deteriorating health of Mr Lai, a diabetic who has been held in solitary confinement in prison for almost four years. In September it was reported that he had been denied the right to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist since last December.

Mr Lai’s prolonged trial is expected to resume on Wednesday, but the UN Working Group stressed that “no trial of Mr Lai should take place” and that “the appropriate remedy would be to release Mr Lai immediately”. The UN expressed serious concerns about the undermining of Mr Lai’s right to fair trial following interference with the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law, as well as harassment and intimidation of his lawyers. 

The international community must pay close attention to Mr Lai’s case when the trial resumes, and prepare to respond with consequences for Beijing and its Hong Kong quislings.

But while Mr Lai is Hong Kong’s most famous political prisoner, he is not the city’s only political prisoner. There are believed to be more than 1,800 political prisoners as a result of the crackdown over the past five years, including democratically elected legislators, activists and journalists. 

This week is a significant one for Hong Kong, because on Tuesday – the day before Mr Lai’s trial resumes – a Hong Kong court is expected to sentence at least 45 of the 47 pro-democracy elected legislators and activists, whose only “crime” was to hold a primary election to choose their candidates for Hong Kong’s legislature in 2020. They have been in jail for almost four years, and now face the prospect of more time behind bars. Their plight must not be ignored – the eyes of the world must focus on Hong Kong on Tuesday, and respond accordingly.

The resumption of Mr Lai’s trial coincides with “Red Wednesday”, a global campaign highlighting the persecution of Christians around the world. Started by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need in 2016, this campaign involves prominent civic, political, historic and religious buildings around the world being lit up in red, in solidarity with those persecuted for their faith. In London, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral are usually lit up for Red Wednesday. This year, participants should say special prayers for Mr Lai and his family, and indeed for all political prisoners in Hong Kong including the 45 former legislators and activists.

Red Wednesday would be an appropriate time for Pope Francis and Church leaders around the world to pray for Mr Lai and call for his release. So far the Pope has been silent in the face of the grave repression in Hong Kong and the imprisonment of one of the city’s most prominent lay Catholics. This week would be an opportunity to put that right.

The British government in particular should increase its efforts to secure his release in light of the UN report. Foreign Secretary David Lammy met Mr Lai’s son Sebastien last week, and said on X that his father’s case “is a priority for the UK government”. Last month, the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told Parliament that the case is a priority, and called on the Hong Kong authorities to immediate release Mr Lai. Such statements are welcome, but they need to be accompanied by action. If Mr Lai is not released and if the 45 former legislators and activists are handed severe sentences, then long overdue targeted sanctions should be imposed against Hong Kong and Beijing officials responsible for dismantling the city’s freedoms. 

And any resumption of the UK’s trade talks with China – which the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is believed to be preparing for when she visits Beijing early next year – should be made contingent on the release of Mr Lai and other political prisoners. The UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Commission (“JETCO”) was suspended by the previous UK government in light of the crackdown in Hong Kong. As long as the human rights situation in the city continues to deteriorate and as long as a British national such as Mr Lai remains in prison, JETCO should remain frozen.

The British government should also review the diplomatic privileges of Hong Kong’s Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in London – which functions like a mini-embassy for Hong Kong. The HKETOs were established when Hong Kong enjoyed freedom, the rule of law and autonomy. Today, as Hong Kong has lost all three, the HKETO functions as an extension of the Chinese embassy, promoting Beijing’s propaganda and harassing the Hong Kong diaspora. If Mr Lai and other political prisoners in Hong Kong are not released, there should be repercussions for the status of the HKETO in London.

World leaders – in particular Sir Keir Starmer and Pope Francis – must pay attention to the ruling of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and put the spotlight on Hong Kong this week. Beijing and its quislings in Hong Kong have been allowed to perpetrate grave injustices with impunity for too long. This week, they must be called to account – and Mr Lai and other political prisoners must be freed.

This article is published in The Tablet on 18 November 2024.