The Japan Times - Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai's court case a 'show trial': son

EUR -
AED 3.844511
AFN 79.42561
ALL 98.451745
AMD 420.935727
ANG 1.890391
AOA 956.146161
ARS 1097.902552
AUD 1.664354
AWG 1.886654
AZN 1.776401
BAM 1.956431
BBD 2.117883
BDT 127.921247
BGN 1.948609
BHD 0.395428
BIF 3104.100892
BMD 1.046687
BND 1.414156
BOB 7.248337
BRL 6.191785
BSD 1.048938
BTN 90.429158
BWP 14.458662
BYN 3.432707
BYR 20515.074917
BZD 2.106939
CAD 1.506052
CDF 2977.825871
CHF 0.948928
CLF 0.037172
CLP 1025.690878
CNY 7.60366
CNH 7.60666
COP 4419.794954
CRC 529.270659
CUC 1.046687
CUP 27.737219
CVE 110.299511
CZK 25.083854
DJF 186.790229
DKK 7.461783
DOP 64.60083
DZD 141.045479
EGP 52.783931
ERN 15.700312
ETB 134.974021
FJD 2.412353
FKP 0.862038
GBP 0.840649
GEL 3.003818
GGP 0.862038
GHS 15.943989
GIP 0.862038
GMD 75.887411
GNF 9069.924522
GTQ 8.107614
GYD 219.45076
HKD 8.155407
HNL 26.709357
HRK 7.724081
HTG 137.024182
HUF 408.523876
IDR 16991.401462
ILS 3.751683
IMP 0.862038
INR 90.35713
IQD 1374.143081
IRR 44065.543199
ISK 146.316416
JEP 0.862038
JMD 165.01163
JOD 0.742627
JPY 162.945693
KES 135.682328
KGS 91.532986
KHR 4221.361143
KMF 490.159328
KPW 942.018862
KRW 1503.184559
KWD 0.322453
KYD 0.874182
KZT 543.275175
LAK 22858.370493
LBP 93932.387723
LKR 312.850876
LRD 207.686967
LSL 19.265412
LTL 3.090596
LVL 0.633131
LYD 5.160664
MAD 10.474978
MDL 19.510291
MGA 4901.53363
MKD 61.549846
MMK 3399.600157
MNT 3556.644223
MOP 8.416214
MRU 41.947526
MUR 48.513638
MVR 16.130013
MWK 1818.869102
MXN 21.398541
MYR 4.581412
MZN 66.893607
NAD 19.265412
NGN 1602.813619
NIO 38.602447
NOK 11.761999
NPR 144.686653
NZD 1.840928
OMR 0.40417
PAB 1.048938
PEN 3.895456
PGK 4.210358
PHP 61.141724
PKR 292.339062
PLN 4.214226
PYG 8299.676162
QAR 3.824197
RON 4.976265
RSD 117.157777
RUB 102.759572
RWF 1462.657648
SAR 3.925914
SBD 8.833435
SCR 15.054854
SDG 629.059228
SEK 11.474427
SGD 1.411264
SHP 0.862038
SLE 23.765472
SLL 21948.513359
SOS 599.487572
SRD 36.743968
STD 21664.317908
SVC 9.177959
SYP 13609.030804
SZL 19.270214
THB 35.2841
TJS 11.433387
TMT 3.673873
TND 3.338345
TOP 2.451445
TRY 37.329204
TTD 7.1333
TWD 34.378438
TZS 2660.979993
UAH 43.963856
UGX 3869.210629
USD 1.046687
UYU 45.604705
UZS 13603.3863
VES 59.223032
VND 26250.922393
VUV 124.264841
WST 2.931591
XAF 656.162305
XAG 0.034558
XAU 0.00038
XCD 2.828725
XDR 0.808153
XOF 656.168576
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.677649
ZAR 19.401112
ZMK 9421.440087
ZMW 29.133837
ZWL 337.032947
  • RIO

    0.5300

    62.09

    +0.85%

  • RBGPF

    62.2800

    62.28

    +100%

  • NGG

    -0.4300

    60.28

    -0.71%

  • SCS

    -0.0700

    11.53

    -0.61%

  • BCC

    -1.3400

    127.11

    -1.05%

  • CMSC

    0.1150

    23.6

    +0.49%

  • RELX

    -0.5400

    48.85

    -1.11%

  • RYCEF

    0.0000

    7.55

    0%

  • BCE

    0.3100

    23.53

    +1.32%

  • BTI

    0.8600

    37.91

    +2.27%

  • JRI

    0.0400

    12.59

    +0.32%

  • CMSD

    0.0900

    23.96

    +0.38%

  • VOD

    -0.0300

    8.37

    -0.36%

  • GSK

    0.2200

    34.27

    +0.64%

  • BP

    -0.0400

    31.45

    -0.13%

  • AZN

    0.4600

    69.06

    +0.67%

Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai's court case a 'show trial': son
Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai's court case a 'show trial': son / Photo: Justin TALLIS - AFP

Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai's court case a 'show trial': son

The son of the Hong Kong democracy activist Jimmy Lai said Tuesday that his father's trial in the Chinese territory was a "sham" but that he was "proud" of how he was handling himself in court.

Text size:

The 76-year-old media tycoon has been testifying for three days in Hong Kong about claims that he colluded with foreign forces, an offence carrying up to life in prison under the sweeping national security law Beijing imposed on the financial hub in mid-2020.

The founder of the now-shuttered tabloid Apple Daily is also accused of "conspiracy to publish seditious publications".

His son Sebastien, who has been travelling the world to denounce his father's arrest since he was detained in 2020, is following in real time the media coverage of his father's testimony.

"The trial is one of the first times in the last four years where I have any indication of how he's doing," Sebastien Lai told AFP in an interview in London.

"He's been kept in solitary confinement for the last four years. His health obviously has gotten quite a bit worse but from his statements, his spirit's still strong and his mind's still sharp."

On Tuesday, Jimmy Lai told the court he had advocated "peaceful resistance" against China's erosion of the city's freedoms and tried to "reduce violence" during huge democracy protests in 2019.

"It's quite heartbreaking seeing my father being dragged to court with all these sham allegations. But I'm also incredibly proud of him"," Sebastien Lai said.

"They've been trying to break him for four years but he's unbroken."

- Hong Kong 'on trial' -

Sebastien Lai, who has not set foot in Hong Kong for four years because of his fight to defend his father, said he had little hope of seeing him judged impartially.

"It's a complete show trial," he said, noting that the three judges hearing the case were appointed by the government and there is no jury.

United Nations human rights experts have called for the release of Lai, as have major Western governments including Britain.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer raised Lai's case with Chinese President Xi Jinping when they met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil this month.

"My father at every turn, at every crossroad, chose to do the right thing. And Hong Kong is showing you what the cost is of doing the right thing," Lai said.

Last week, a Hong Kong court sentenced 45 pro-democracy activists to up to 10 years in prison for subversion.

Lai says his father's trial demonstrates "a very clear decision by the government to criminalise everything that my father stands for, which is campaigning for democracy, the free press, free speech, freedom of assembly".

"Symbolically, they're putting my father on trial, but also these freedoms that made Hong Kong great on trial," he said.

Lai said statements by Starmer and foreign minister David Lammy calling for his father's release were "incredibly important" but did not go far enough.

"The United Kingdom can decide whether they are a place that protects citizens from being arbitrarily detained or not," he said, adding that the fact his father will turn 77 next month makes his case "very urgent".

"My father could die at any point given his age. It's not just about freeing him now. It's about saving his life."

H.Nakamura--JT