STATEMENT on the sentencing of Jimmy Lai and seven other pro-democracy activists to prison for their efforts to commemorate the Chinese Communist Party’s 1989 crackdown on peaceful protesters in Tiananmen Square
Monday 13 December - Earlier today, a Hong Kong court sentenced Jimmy Lai and seven other pro-democracy activists to prison for their efforts to commemorate the Chinese Communist Party’s 1989 crackdown on peaceful protesters in Tiananmen Square. The sentences ranged between four months and 14 months. Mr. Lai, who has already served a year in prison, received a 13-month sentence for this conviction, as he awaits further prosecution under the new National Security Law.
Mark Clifford, president of The Committee For Freedom in Hong Kong and a former director of Next Digital, the parent company of Lai’s now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, issued the following statement:
“For decades, the horrors that took place in Tiananmen Square were memorialized by the freedom-loving people of Hong Kong. Imprisoning Jimmy Lai—who merely lit a candle at a press conference in their memory—shows how desperate the CCP is to stamp out the freedoms that the citizens of Hong Kong have long enjoyed. The message it sends with these new sentences is clear: keep silent and submit, or you will suffer a similar fate. But Jimmy and the others, even at their sentencings, embody the indomitable spirit of the people of Hong Kong."
ENDS
About CFHK
The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong presses for political and economic consequences for China’s failure to keep its promises to respect Hong Kong’s freedoms; supports the rule of law, freedom of expression, and the release of political prisoners; and urges the business community to stand against China’s assault on freedom and the danger it poses to Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre. Hong Kong’s fate is linked to the preservation of freedom, democracy, and international law in the region and around the world.
For more information, please contact:
E: media@thecfhk.org
www.thecfhk.org
@thecfhk
Mark Clifford, president of The Committee For Freedom in Hong Kong and a former director of Next Digital, the parent company of Lai’s now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, issued the following statement:
“For decades, the horrors that took place in Tiananmen Square were memorialized by the freedom-loving people of Hong Kong. Imprisoning Jimmy Lai—who merely lit a candle at a press conference in their memory—shows how desperate the CCP is to stamp out the freedoms that the citizens of Hong Kong have long enjoyed. The message it sends with these new sentences is clear: keep silent and submit, or you will suffer a similar fate. But Jimmy and the others, even at their sentencings, embody the indomitable spirit of the people of Hong Kong."
ENDS
About CFHK
The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong presses for political and economic consequences for China’s failure to keep its promises to respect Hong Kong’s freedoms; supports the rule of law, freedom of expression, and the release of political prisoners; and urges the business community to stand against China’s assault on freedom and the danger it poses to Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre. Hong Kong’s fate is linked to the preservation of freedom, democracy, and international law in the region and around the world.
For more information, please contact:
E: media@thecfhk.org
www.thecfhk.org
@thecfhk