State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the U.S. condemned the Oct. 25 verdict against Hong Kong pro-democracy journalist Jimmy Lai.
Lai was found guilty of two fraud charges related to lease violations, according to an Oct. 26 news release.
“The United States condemns the Oct. 25 verdict against Hong Kong democracy advocate Jimmy Lai, founder of the Apple Daily newspaper, on spurious fraud charges,” Price said in the release. “We remain deeply concerned about the deterioration in protection for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the systematic dismantling of Hong Kong’s autonomy under the National Security Law. These include increased efforts to wield the NSL to suppress independent media, to silence dissenting views and to stifle freedom of speech.”
Lai is serving a 20-month sentence for his role in the 2019 pro-democracy protests, according to an Oct. 25 AP News report. Lai faces collusion charges under Beijing-imposed National Security Law and a separate sedition charge.
Price called the fraud charges “spurious” and condemned the verdict, the release reported. Price urged PRC authorities to restore the “once-vibrant” independent media environment that existed in Hong Kong.
Lai and two former executives at his company were charged for subletting part of their office space to a secretarial firm between 2016 and 2020, AP News reported. The firm was also controlled by Lai, but the subletting allegedly violated lease agreements with the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corp. The second charge against Lai was for letting the same firm use part of the media outlet's office space in 1998 and 2015. Lai's lawyers are asking the United Nations to investigate the charges against him as legal harassment as punishment for speaking out.
