FRANCE 24 spoke to Sebastien Lai, the son of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon, pro-democracy activist and founder of the now-defunct tabloid Apple Daily newspaper, Jimmy Lai. The elder Lai, in prison since December 2020, is currently on trial in Hong Kong for alleged collusion with foreign forces.
Speaking to FRANCE 24, Sebastien Lai noted that his father “decided to stay and act as a lightning rod to defend his people”.
“My father’s whole life has been a pursuit of freedom, and then a sacrifice to defend that freedom.”
Lai echoed calls for the immediate and unconditional release of his 77-year-old father Jimmy, who is imprisoned in solitary confinement and suffers from diabetes.
Over the past the 30 years, Lai has “always called for peaceful democracy protest”, his son noted.
“He was just calling for China to honour the joint declaration, where Hong Kong would have one country, two systems and Hong Kong would have democracy under the system,” Sebastien Lai asserted.
‘Complete textbook show trial’
The younger Lai explained why he believes “there’s no way” his father, who risks a life sentence, is going to get a fair trial. “There’s no jury, there’s three government-appointed judges”, as well as “allegations” of the witnesses who have testified against his father “being tortured“.
It’s a “complete textbook show trial,” he added.
US president-elect Donald Trump said back in October that he would “one hundred percent” get Jimmy Lai out of jail.
“We’re incredibly grateful for what President Trump said in regards to my father,” his son stated.
“We definitely see more and more attention on the case”, but “the clock is ticking, so it’s not the time to be pulling punches, unfortunately”, he concluded.
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