Court Convicts Entrepreneur in Politically Motivated Case

Hong Kong Court Convicts Media Entrepreneur Jimmy Lai in Politically Motivated Case Under Draconian Security Law

British citizen, 78, faces life imprisonment after five years arbitrary detention for exercising basic freedoms

(BANGKOK, December 15, 2025)–The decision today by a Hong Kong court to find entrepreneur and pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai, 78, guilty on two charges—conspiracy to collude with foreign powers, under Hong Kong’s draconian national security law, and conspiracy to publish seditious publications—is a grave travesty of justice that demands unequivocal international condemnation, Fortify Rights said today.

“Hong Kong authorities should immediately and unconditionally release Jimmy Lai,” said Benedict Rogers, Senior Director at Fortify Rights. “This long-awaited verdict is a grave miscarriage of justice. Jimmy Lai has been convicted in a bogus trial for exercising his fundamental human rights and for conduct that is lawful in any free society but criminalized in Hong Kong today – the ‘crime’ of journalism and the ‘crime’ of talking with foreign politicians, human rights activists, and reporters. This verdict is not only an appalling injustice against Mr. Lai, but also a direct assault on freedom of expression, press freedom, and the rule of law.”

Mr. Lai, a British citizen and the founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, which was forcibly shut down in 2021, has already spent five years in jail on multiple politically motivated charges. He has been held in indefinite solitary confinement for over 1,800 days. The United Nations (U.N.) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared Mr. Lai’s imprisonment arbitrary and unlawful in 2024 and called for his immediate release, and five U.N. Special Rapporteurs have also called for his release.

On January 31, 2024, the U.N. confirmed that the Special Rapporteur on torture had formally communicated with Chinese authorities regarding allegations that the testimony of a key prosecution witness in Mr. Lai’s trial was obtained through torture, and called for an immediate, independent investigation into those allegations. 

There are mounting concerns about Mr. Lai’s deteriorating health. He is a diabetic elderly man who has been denied natural light in his prison cell, permitted less than one hour per day of exercise in a confined space, and refused independent medical care of his choosing. In September 2025, his son Sebastien Lai, together with his international legal team led by Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, submitted a new urgent appeal to the U.N. experts, including the Special Rapporteur on torture, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and the Special Rapporteur on the right to health, warning of the serious and immediate risk to Mr. Lai’s life posed by his ongoing detention. The Urgent Appeal includes new evidence and legal analysis demonstrating an apparent systemic failure of the Hong Kong authorities to adequately treat older and diabetic prisoners. Earlier this month, Mr. Lai’s daughter Claire Lai raised further alarm, citing Mr. Lai’s dramatic weight loss and worsening health.

Mr. Lai is likely to be sentenced in the coming weeks and faces a minimum of ten years and potentially up to life imprisonment. Fortify Rights urges all U.N. member states to use every available diplomatic, legal, and political tool to press the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Lai, at a minimum on medical grounds.

 “The international community, and especially the British government, have a responsibility to do everything possible to secure Mr. Lai’s freedom,” said Benedict Rogers. “When the British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer visits Beijing in January, the release of Mr. Lai, a British citizen, must be a top priority. Any trade deals that the U.K. and China may discuss should be conditional upon Mr. Lai’s immediate and unconditional release. Whether he is given a ten-year sentence or a life sentence, at Mr. Lai’s age and with his current deteriorating health, it amounts to the same. There is a very real danger that Mr. Lai will die in prison without urgent and robust political and diplomatic pressure from the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia, Japan, and others. We urge leaders around the world not only to condemn today’s verdict, but to mobilise action to free Jimmy Lai.”

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