Jimmy Lai’s son calls on U.S. Congress to help free Hong Kong publisher

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00:00The son of renowned freedom fighter, pro-democracy publisher and Hong Kong-based Jimmy Lai

00:05is calling for U.S. Congress intervention to help secure the release of his father

00:10sitting in a Hong Kong jail over contrived and widely condemned subversion charges.

00:16Liam Scott reports for VOA in Washington, D.C.

00:21The son of imprisoned Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai was in Washington this month.

00:25Sebastian Lai made his father's case to U.S. lawmakers.

00:28The first time I realized I was taller than my dad, I was 13.

00:32But I always knew that I wasn't stronger than him.

00:35Years of unjust imprisonment have taken their toll on his father, Sebastian Lai says.

00:39Given his age, given the fact that he is in the conditions that he's in,

00:44there's a danger to his life. And he could, you know, it breaks my heart to say this,

00:50but he could pass away at any moment.

00:54Held in solitary confinement since late 2020,

00:56the 76-year-old Lai is on trial under Hong Kong's national security law.

01:01The founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper denies the charges of collusion with

01:05foreign forces and sedition. The United States, Britain and international observers have condemned

01:10the trial. Sebastian Lai and his father's international legal team say Washington's

01:15words matter.

01:16I think there is a period before the end of this trial where we could put a lot more

01:24pressure on the Hong Kong government and eventually see my father released before he,

01:28you know, before he passes away in prison.

01:31International pressure is the only way to secure Lai's release, says Keelan Gallagher.

01:35The head of Lai's international legal team says there's no more rule of law in Hong Kong.

01:39He's someone who could have left Hong Kong at any time, could be having a lovely life

01:44living in Washington or living in London or living in Paris. And he chose to stay

01:49and stand up for what was right in Hong Kong. And now it's time we stand up for him.

01:54Analysts point to Lai's case as emblematic of the rapid decline of media freedoms in Hong Kong

01:58since it enacted the national security law in 2020. The country has fallen from 73 to 135

02:05out of 180 countries and territories in the World Press Freedom Index.

02:08It's horrifying to see that happen so quickly. And we've just seen freedoms and liberties,

02:16which Hong Kongers have taken for granted for a very long time, just be decimated.

02:20Despite international criticism, Hong Kong officials say Lai will receive a fair trial.

02:25In a statement to VOA, China's Washington embassy claimed the publisher tried to destabilize Hong

02:29Kong. Lai's international legal team rejects that claim. Members of Congress, including

02:34former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have joined calls for Lai's release.

02:38Not only do we remember, we exalt, we lift up the sacrifice of Jimmy Lai.

02:46Sebastian says he welcomes the support and tries to stay optimistic.

02:49I'm sure I'll see my father again and I won't stop until he is free.

02:53Lai's trial is set to resume in November. Liam Scott, VOA News.

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