Why we care about Jimmy Lai
We run a small, family-run Hong Kong food business in the UK. We normally keep politics out of our work — but some moments matter too much to ignore.
Jimmy Lai, now 78 years old, is a British citizen and the founder of Apple Daily, once Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy newspaper. For decades, Apple Daily played a major role in Hong Kong’s media landscape, known for its investigative reporting and outspoken support for press freedom.
In 2020, following the imposition of Beijing’s National Security Law on Hong Kong, Apple Daily was forced to shut down. Jimmy Lai was arrested and later charged with national security offences.
He has now been convicted after a non-jury trial, a process that the UK government, international organisations, and press-freedom groups have described as politically motivated. He faces the possibility of life imprisonment.
Jimmy Lai has already spent more than five years in prison, much of it in solitary confinement. His family has said his health has deteriorated.
We are not legal experts or politicians. We are simply people who believe that freedom of expression and a free press matter, and that no one — especially an elderly man — should be imprisoned for peaceful publishing.
We share this here so that his name is not forgotten.