Son of Jimmy Lai fears he’ll never see father again after media tycoon’s 20-year sentence

Sebastien Lai told The Independent of his devastation at his father’s ‘almost comically large’ jail term, but spoke of his pride that Jimmy Lai had fought so hard for press freedom

The son of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai said his father had been effectively issued a death sentence as he was sentenced to a further 20 years in prison on Monday.

Sebastien Lai said the verdict was expected but “still devastating” and left him doubtful as to whether he would ever see his ailing father again.

Mr Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, was found guilty of collusion and sedition in his national security trial last year, five years after his arrest under the controversial national security law. He denies the charges.

His son told The Independent that his father was still “strong in spirit” despite “all these attempts to break him, including torture, confinement and horrible conditions that he’s been kept in.

“Even being held in solitary confinement for 10 days is insane for most people. He’s done 1,800 days of that. It’s inspirational,” he said, describing his father as his hero and adding: “Someone who has given up so much for freedom, I think, surely deserves some of it himself.”

Sebastien Lai told The Independent he was ‘incredibly proud’ of his father for sticking to his principles (AFP/Getty)

Announcing their verdict on Monday, the three judges said Mr Lai’s sentence fell within the harshest penalty tier for offences of a “grave nature”, accusing him of being the driving force behind persistent foreign collusion conspiracies. The sentence drew uproar from the British government and other democracies around the world.

Mr Lai’s son said: “It’s one of those moments where I think to myself, ‘Am I ever going to see my father again?’ He’s already been there for five years. Given his health conditions, I don’t even know if he’s got a tenth of that. So it’s obviously tremendously hard.

“I think one of the things that gave me a bit of strength was that in court, when they announced it, Dad was stoic and he flashed a small smile because I think he knew that this was coming and he wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of showing any sad emotions.

“Also, he knew that he did the right thing. I think that’s what is most important is that he’s a man who at every turn and every opportunity did what was right.”

He said his message to his father, who has only been able to receive letters since late 2020, would be “that I miss him a lot, that I love him a lot. But that I’m incredibly proud of him”.

Jimmy Lai has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of foreign collusion and publishing seditious materials, charges he denies (AFP/Getty)

Sebastien Lai said he believed history would remember the media tycoon as “a very good man ... who was willing to give everything that he had to stand for what was right”.

He said: “I think people always think of the death of press freedom as a bang. Unfortunately, as you see from my father’s case, it sounds more like drowning. It sounds like the air being sucked out of a room. And nobody really thinks about press freedom until there’s no press freedom anymore… It’s a farce.”

He added that he did not know if there would be the ability to appeal the verdict, describing the legal system in Hong Kong as “broken”.

Sebastien Lai said he had to remain optimistic that his father could still be released, urging the British government to make the resetting of relations with China conditional on his father’s release. He said that “time is running out for my father”.

“Many people in this country are very worried or have national security concerns in regards to China. They have done nothing to abate that. And we’re not going to normalise what’s happening to my father. That’s just completely unacceptable.”

“In order to have a closer relationship, my father’s release should be a precondition for that. And if they’re not even willing to do something so right, so humane, so simple, what can we possibly expect from that relationship with Hong Kong and China?”

Britain, the US, Australia, the European Union, Japan and Taiwan expressed concerns about the impact of the sentencing. Foreign minister Yvette Cooper said Britain would “rapidly engage further on Mr Lai’s case”.

“For the 78-year-old, this is tantamount to a life sentence,” she said. “I remain deeply concerned for Mr Lai's health, and I again call on the Hong Kong authorities to end his appalling ordeal and release him on humanitarian grounds, so that he may be returned to his family.”

Sebastien Lai urged Britain to make the resetting of relations conditional on the release of his father (Reuters)

US secretary of state Marco Rubio said the sentencing was an “unjust and tragic conclusion” to the case and urged authorities to grant him “humanitarian parole”.

Anitta Hipper, spokesperson for the European Commission, said the “politically motivated persecution” would harm Hong Kong’s reputation.

“The EU calls on the Hong Kong authorities to restore confidence in press freedom in Hong Kong, one of the pillars of its historic success as an international financial centre, and to stop prosecuting journalists.”