Media tycoon Jimmy Lai, founder of Apple Daily, looks on as he leaves the Court of Final Appeal by prison van, in Hong Kong, on Feb. 1, 2021. Tyrone Siu/Reuters
The Canadian government has condemned Hong Kong’s conviction of pro-democracy activist and publisher Jimmy Lai, describing it as a sign of the city’s deteriorating human rights situation and calling for his immediate release.
Lai, 78, was convicted on Dec. 15 in a national security trial on all three charges against him: two counts of “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces” under the Beijing-imposed national security law, and one count of “sedition” under a colonial-era sedition law. He is the founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, and a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
