The conviction of 78 year-old British citizen, Hong Kong entrepreneur and pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai yesterday on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign powers and one charge of conspiracy to publish seditious publications is one of the great travesties of our time. It was yet another dark day for Hong Kong and a direct assault on the values of freedom, human rights and the rule of law.

It was not, however, a surprise. Ever since Lai was arrested and jailed five years ago on multiple other trumped-up charges, and ever since his trial under Hong Kong’s draconian national security law began two years ago, the verdict has been predetermined. It was a bogus trial in a kangaroo court in a repressive police state. Lai, the founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily which was forcibly shut down in 2021, has been jailed for – as the head of his international legal team Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC puts it – the crimes of conspiracy to commit journalism, conspiracy to discuss politics with politicians, and conspiracy to talk about human rights with human rights activists.

Without concerted global action, Jimmy Lai will die in prison

The fact that communications between Lai and various foreigners were presented in court as evidence of his crimes illustrates the Alice in Wonderland absurdity of this charade. I have apparently been named at least 95 times in the judgment and my friend Luke de........

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