The son of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has described his father’s 20-year prison term as “a death sentence” and said that the British government had been slow on helping to deal with his case.
In an interview for ‘The Real Question with Shehab Khan’, Sebastian Lai said his 78-year-old father, who is a British citizen, had spent more than 2,000 days in solitary confinement: “He is kept in a tiny little cell from my understanding less than 60 square feet. They block off natural light, so in the summer he essentially bakes in that cell … all of these things are aimed to break him, so never mind 20 years, I don’t know if he’s got two or three years left.”
Jimmy Lai founded the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, which became one of the most popular outlets in Hong Kong. Following massive anti-government protests, Beijing imposed a national security law which led to Lai’s arrest and Apple Daily’s closure.
Lai was convicted of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and conspiracy to publish seditious materials and given the harshest penalty handed down under the national security law.
The decision has been widely condemned by Western nations.
Shehab also spoke to Sebastian about:
The importance of calls for his release from U.S. President Donald Trump and Keir Starmer, and his talks with new Prime Minister Andy Burnham
The emotional toll this has taken on their entire family
Why his father did not flee when he had the chance
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