Closing Arguments Begin In Hong Kong Trial of Catholic Pro-Democracy Activist Jimmy Lai
By Gary Gately
A Hong Kong court began hearing final arguments Monday in the trial of Jimmy Lai, the firebrand Catholic activist and founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily.
The trial resumed after the court delayed Lai’s trial Friday, when his defense team said he had suffered heart palpitations.
Lai, a 77-year-old who converted to Catholicism in 1997, has spent more than four years in a maximum-security prison, much of it in solitary confinement.
He has maintained his innocence since his arrest in August 2020, less than two months after China imposed its sweeping national security law on Hong Kong, abruptly eliminating longtime rights such as freedom of speech and assembly and criminalizing public protests as acts of secession, subversion and terrorism.
Prosecutors accuse him of orchestrating mass protests that erupted across Hong Kong in 2019 and have charged him with sedition and colluding with foreign governments. He faces up to life imprisonment. The prosecutors have specifically alleged that Lai urged foreign countries, including the U.S., to take action against China during the 2019 protests.
Western governments, along with human rights organizations and Catholic leaders across the world, have condemned Lai’s arrest and imprisonment.
Ahead of closing arguments in Lai’s trial, U.S. President Donald J. Trump vowed in an interview on Fox News Radio: “I’m going to do everything I can to save him.”
Referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump added: “You can also understand, President Xi would not be exactly thrilled by doing it. With all of that being said, [Lai’s'] name has already entered the circle of things that we’re talking about, and we’ll see what we can do.”
But Trump backed off statements he made before his election in November, when asked whether he would discuss Lai’s release with Xi. “One-hundred percent, I will get him out,” the president replied. “He’ll be easy to get out.”
But in the Fox News Radio interview Tuesday, he backtracked, saying that he had that in November, he had said only: “I’m going to be bringing it up. And I’ve already brought it up,” he said.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday demanded Lai’s immediate release.
“The Hong Kong government should drop the baseless charges against Jimmy Lai. Holding the 77-year-old Lai in prolonged solitary detention while his health fails has been outrageously cruel,” Elaine Pearson, HRW’s Asia director, said in a statement. She called on “concerned governments” to press for his release as well.
That came two days after the Committee to Protect Journalists’ regional director for Asia, Beh Lih Yi, said in a statement: “The world is watching how Hong Kong treats its journalists. The prolonged detention of Jimmy Lai not only destroys Hong Kong’s historic reputation as a free and open society, but also as a trusted hub for business. The risk of him dying in prison increases as each day passes.”
And Father Robert Sirico, a Catholic priest and the founder of the Michigan-based Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, wrote in an essay last week for the U.S.-based publication The Free Press that Lai has little chance of getting a fair trial. “There is no jury. The three judges were handpicked by Hong Kong’s chief executive, who is under the thumb of the CCP. These judges hold Lai’s fate in their hands….
“As closing arguments begin,” Father Sirico wrote, “Lai’s case is a clarion call for the West, and for all who believe in truth and liberty. Hong Kong’s revival depends on global solidarity, on voices demanding justice for Lai, for the dozens of other jailed activists, and for a city yearning to breathe freely. As Lai testified, the truth will prevail, even if only ‘in the kingdom of God.’ Jimmy Lai reminds us what it looks like to live without fear. To speak without permission. To suffer for the truth. He reminds us, in other words, of what it means to be free.”