Statement on the unjust imposition of further charges against Jimmy Lai and former Apple Daily colleagues
Wednesday 29th December – The shamelessness of the Chinese backed administration in Hong Kong has once against shown it knows no bounds. The imposition of further charges against Jimmy Lai and six other former executives of pro-democracy Apple Daily is yet another crushing blow to the once prosperous and free Hong Kong.
The additional sedition charge accuses Mr Lai of conspiracy to print, publish, sell, distribute “seditious publications” between April 2019 and June 2021. Prosecutors allege that the publications could “bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection” against the Hong Kong and Chinese governments. The same conspiracy to produce seditious publications charge was filed against the six former Apple Daily staff members, including chief editor Ryan Law; deputy chief editor Chan Pui-man; Cheung Kim-hung, the CEO of Next Digital, Apple's parent media company; columnist Yeung Ching-kee; English edition editor Fung Wai-kong; and senior editor Lam Man-chung.
Responding to the announcement of further charges being levelled against Jimmy Lai and his former colleagues, Mark Clifford, President of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong, said:
“The levelling of further charges against Jimmy Lai and other former staff of the pro-democracy Apple Daily should be hugely unsettling for anyone committed to democracy, press freedom and civil liberty in the world.
“The West cannot turn their back and simply look past what is happening in Hong Kong right now. Make no mistake, this latest incident is just one part of a wider effort to wipe out any sort of democracy, individual opinion, or quiet dissent in Hong Kong.
“Without a response from the international community, Hong Kong will soon become unrecognisable, just as those who were brave enough to speak out will be disappeared from view and their voices hushed. Permanently.”
ENDS
The additional sedition charge accuses Mr Lai of conspiracy to print, publish, sell, distribute “seditious publications” between April 2019 and June 2021. Prosecutors allege that the publications could “bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection” against the Hong Kong and Chinese governments. The same conspiracy to produce seditious publications charge was filed against the six former Apple Daily staff members, including chief editor Ryan Law; deputy chief editor Chan Pui-man; Cheung Kim-hung, the CEO of Next Digital, Apple's parent media company; columnist Yeung Ching-kee; English edition editor Fung Wai-kong; and senior editor Lam Man-chung.
Responding to the announcement of further charges being levelled against Jimmy Lai and his former colleagues, Mark Clifford, President of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong, said:
“The levelling of further charges against Jimmy Lai and other former staff of the pro-democracy Apple Daily should be hugely unsettling for anyone committed to democracy, press freedom and civil liberty in the world.
“The West cannot turn their back and simply look past what is happening in Hong Kong right now. Make no mistake, this latest incident is just one part of a wider effort to wipe out any sort of democracy, individual opinion, or quiet dissent in Hong Kong.
“Without a response from the international community, Hong Kong will soon become unrecognisable, just as those who were brave enough to speak out will be disappeared from view and their voices hushed. Permanently.”
ENDS