Jimmy Lai's son urges US, UK help to get father out of Hong Kong jail

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA (Reuters) - Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai is physically breaking down in a Hong Kong prison and "time is running out" for him if the U.S. and Britain do not push for his release, his son said.

Jimmy Lai, a British-Chinese dual citizen and supporter of the pro-democracy protests that swept Hong Kong in 2019, was arrested under the Beijing-imposed national security law in August 2020.

The 77-year-old founder of the now-closed Apple Daily newspaper pleaded not guilty in January last year to charges of collusion with foreign forces and sedition.

The law, imposed in June 2020, punishes what Beijing broadly defines as secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign collusion with up to life in jail.

Lai's son Sebastien urged global leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to take urgent action, as his father faces his fourth year of solitary confinement, which has been condemned by U.N. experts.

"His body is breaking down ... It's akin to torture," Sebastien Lai told Reuters ahead of Tuesday's Human Rights and Democracy summit in Geneva. "Time is running out for my father."

Jimmy Lai is diabetic.

Hong Kong "strongly disapproves of and rejects misinformation and smearing remarks made by Sebastien Lai," a government spokesman said in an email.

China's permanent mission in Geneva described the claims about Lai's health as "slanderous" and said the tycoon's trial was being conducted in accordance with the law.

Authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong, which also enacted its own security law last year, say the legislation is necessary to plug security loopholes, and has helped restore stability in the territory.

The U.S. and British governments have condemned the case against Lai as politically motivated.

In October, before winning office, Trump said that he would "100%" get Lai out of jail.

"We are incredibly grateful that he said that. It gives us a lot of hope," Sebastien Lai said.

Sebastien urged a stronger response from the United Kingdom.

"If (Britain) wants to normalise relations, they shouldn't normalise citizens being arrested for standing up for democracy," he said.

The British government said Lai's case remains a priority and was raised when Starmer met Chinese President Xi Jinping in November. The U.S. government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lai's international legal team says his case is part of a broader trend of states using "lawfare" to silence journalists.

It urged global leaders gathering at the U.N. Human Rights Council next week to condemn Beijing and defend press freedom.

"How the world responds will send a vital message to authoritarians across the world," said Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC of Doughty Street Chambers.

Hong Kong has plunged from 61st to 135th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index over the last decade.

(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; Additional reporting by Andrew MacAskill in London; Editing by Dave Graham and Kate Mayberry)