Written by via amnesty.org.uk
Repressive National Security Law is crushing Hong Kong’s freedoms
Lai has been denied right to bail and prevented from choosing his own lawyer
‘No one should be prosecuted solely for exercising their human rights’ – Sarah Brooks
Ahead of Monday’s national security trial of Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and founder of the defunct Apple Daily newspaper, Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for China, said:
“This case has been an attack on press freedom and freedom of expression from the very start.
“The Hong Kong authorities must release Jimmy Lai immediately and unconditionally and expunge his criminal convictions. No one should be prosecuted solely for exercising their human rights.
“The prosecution of Jimmy Lai shows how Hong Kong’s repressive National Security Law is being used to stifle press freedom and crush civil society. He has already been arrested for his newspaper’s journalism, denied the right to bail and prevented from choosing his own lawyer. Now he faces a sham trial presided over by a judge handpicked by Hong Kong’s Chief Executive.