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

GENEVA - 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.

Lais 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 ... Its akin to torture, Sebastien Lai told Reuters ahead of Tuesdays 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.

Chinas permanent mission in Geneva described the claims about Lais health as slanderous and said the tycoons 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.

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