Hong Kong Watch co-founder and Chief Executive Benedict Rogers testifies to the Canadian Parliament on the case of Jimmy Lai, and calls for sanctions

Hong Kong Watch’s co-founder and Chief Executive Benedict Rogers today gave evidence at a hearing in the Canadian Parliament about the trial of Jimmy Lai, and reiterated Hong Kong Watch’s call for Mr Lai’s “immediate and unconditional release”. He also urged Canada to use its targeted sanctions regime to “exert pressure on those responsible for this travesty of justice, particularly Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee.”

Speaking to the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development of Canada’s House of Commons, Mr Rogers described the imprisonment and prosecution of Mr Lai, a 76 year-old entrepreneur, media proprietor and British citizen, as “emblematic of the Chinese Communist Party’s all-out assault on Hong Kong’s basic freedoms”. Mr Lai, the founder and proprietor of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, which was forcibly closed in 2021, has been jailed since December 2020 on multiple charges and is currently on trial under the draconian National Security Law. 

Mr Rogers cited the recent statement by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, who has expressed serious concerns that Andy Li, due to testify as a witness for the prosecution in Mr Lai’s trial soon, was tortured during his detention in Mainland China, warning against admission of evidence obtained by torture.

“The evidence presented by witnesses for the prosecution against Mr Lai is unsound,” he told the Subcommittee, noting that evidence obtained through torture and mistreatment is a direct violation of Hong Kong’s obligations as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

“Canada should also note the call by four UN Special Rapporteurs for Mr Lai’s release on the eve of China’s Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations last month, the recommendations by 18 member states on human rights in Hong Kong during the UPR and the specific call by the United Kingdom for Mr Lai’s release,” Mr Rogers added. 

“I welcome Canada’s recommendations at the UPR to ‘ensure Hong Kong upholds its responsibilities under the ICCPR’ and ‘repeal the current National Security Law’ and ‘discontinue all cases’,” Mr Rogers said. “I urge Canada to echo that call loudly, repeatedly and clearly and to act upon it.”

Mr Rogers said Jimmy Lai’s trial is “a complete affront to press freedom”, which today “lies in tatters” in Hong Kong. He also highlighted Mr Lai’s Catholic faith, emphasising that while his imprisonment is not directly due to his religious beliefs, “indirectly they represent the erosion of freedom of religion or belief in Hong Kong” because Mr Lai’s pro-democracy campaigning was “inspired and informed by his faith”. He referenced Hong Kong Watch’s recent report “Sell Out My Soul”: Impending Threats to freedom of religion or belief in Hong Kong, which was launched in the Parliament of Canada in Ottawa, as well as in the European Parliament in Brussels, the UK Parliament in Westminster and in Washington, DC last November, and highlighted Hong Kong Watch’s 2022 report on media freedom, titled In the Firing Line: The Crackdown on Media Freedom in Hong Kong.

Mr Rogers also referred to his own relationship with Mr Lai, saying: “I have the privilege of being able to call Jimmy Lai a friend”. He referenced the multiple times he has been named as a collaborator, along with other foreign nationals, by the prosecution during the trial, “simply for having met and communicated with Mr Lai on many occasions”. The prosecution’s decision to cite their “perfectly normal” communications as evidence illustrates “the absurdity of the charges against Mr Lai”.

The hearing also heard from the former United States Consul-General to Hong Kong, Ambassador James Cunningham, Chair of the Board of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation; former Hong Kong legislator Fernando Cheung, representing Canada-Hong Kong Link; and Zein Almoghraby, Director of International Programs for Journalists for Human Rights.

The full hearing can be viewed here.

香港監察行政總監羅傑斯就黎智英案向加拿大國會作證 呼籲加拿大制裁李家超等香港官員

香港監察共同創辦人兼行政總監羅傑斯（Benedict Rogers）今天出席加拿大國會聽證會，就黎智英的案件作證。他重申香港監察「立即無條件釋放黎智英」的呼籲，並促請加拿大利用其點名制裁制度，「向嘲弄司法公義的人施加壓力，尤其是香港特首李家超。」

羅傑斯向加拿大眾議院外交及國際發展常務委員會國際人權小組委員會（Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development）作證，形容監禁及檢控76歲英國公民黎智英是「中國共產黨徹底侵犯香港基本自由的象徵」。

羅傑斯援引聯合國酷刑特別報告員近期發表的聲明，特別報告員就即將在黎智英案中出庭作證的控方證人李宇軒在中國大陸被拘留期間遭受酷刑表達嚴重關注，並告誡不要承認透過酷刑所得的證據。

羅傑斯表示，黎智英案「完全是對新聞自由的侮辱」，而香港新聞自由如今已「支離破碎」。他亦重點提出黎智英的天主教信仰，強調雖然他被監禁並非直接由其宗教信仰所致，但「間接代表香港宗教或信仰自由被侵蝕」，因黎智英的民主倡議「受其信仰啟發並從中了解」。羅傑斯引用香港監察近期發表的香港宗教或信仰自由報告，並重點提出香港監察2022年發表的香港媒體自由的報告。

同在聽證會作證的人士有前美國駐香港總領事兼香港自由委員會基金會（Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation）董事會主席郭明瀚（James Cunningham)、前香港立法會議員兼港加聯（Canada-Hong Kong Link）代表張超雄，以及人權記者國際計劃（International Programs for Journalists for Human Rights）總監Zein Almoghraby。

請在此處觀看完整聽證會。