Hong Kong Court Sentences Jimmy Lai On The U.N. Human Rights Day

December 10 marks the Human Rights Day, a day designed by the United Nations to commemorate the U.N. General Assembly adopting, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (the UDHR). The UDHR is a milestone human rights declaration affirming human dignity and inalienable rights of everyone.

In Hong Kong, the District Court used the U.N. Human Rights Day to sentence Jimmy Lai, a British national, to 5 years and 9 months imprisonment. This follows his conviction on October 25, 2022, on two counts of fraud concerning the lease of the premises for his pro-democracy media organization, Apple Daily. Jimmy Lai’s international legal team, led by Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, Doughty Street Chambers, condemned the sentence and called upon the U.K. Government to act to secure his release and this before his upcoming trial under the controversial National Security Law Trial.

In October 2022, the U.S. State Department condemned the verdict on “spurious fraud charges” and “the deterioration in protection for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the systematic dismantling of Hong Kong’s autonomy.” It further added that “though Lai’s fraud trial was not on (National Security Law) NSL grounds, local authorities nonetheless imposed the NSL’s more restrictive legal procedures for this non-NSL case. These actions undermine the [People’s Republic of China’s] obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which is a binding international agreement, to uphold Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and protected rights and freedoms.”

Jimmy Lai, owner of the independent newspaper Apple Daily and pro-democracy advocate, was first arrested for alleged “foreign collusion” and fraud in August 2020. He was released on bail. In December 2020, he was arrested on fraud charges related to the use of office space, a civil offense, and was denied bail. Subsequently, he was charged with allegedly conspiring and colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security under the controversial National Security Law. His newspaper, Apple Daily, ultimately closed in June 2021, after the assets of Apple Daily Limited, Apple Daily Printing Limited, and AD Internet Limited were frozen and the headquarters raided by police officers. Several individuals have been arrested. This was just the beginning of attacks on media freedom in Hong Kong.

At the time of sentencing, Jimmy Lai was already serving a custodial sentence for his participation in pro-democracy protests in 2019-2020. Jimmy Lai’s other trial, the national security trial, has been adjourned until December 13 as Hong Kong waits to hear from Beijing whether overseas lawyers are allowed to appear in such cases. The charges under the National Security Law carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The litany of charges that Jimmy Lai has been facing is a clear example of a crackdown on media freedom and on pro-democracy actors in Hong Kong. As the world marks the U.N. Human Rights Day, making pledges on how to do more to uphold human rights, the sentencing of Jimmy Lai on this day sends another powerful message, intentionally or not.