Bishop James Curry, auxiliary bishop of Westminster, has written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham to ask him to work for the release of Jimmy Lai. Lai, a Catholic British citizen who ran the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, was sentenced to 20 years in prison under the Hong Kong government’s national security laws.
In June 2021, the newspaper was raided by police, had its assets frozen and executives arrested. Lai pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of conspiracy to publish seditious material.
Bishop Curry said: “Jimmy Lai’s ‘crime’ was to voice concerns, engage in peaceful protest and publish a newspaper which was critical of oppressive new laws. He was briefly bailed and then re-arrested and denied bail in December 2020. He is held in solitary confinement, and his health is deteriorating rapidly. It is reported that he has no access to the sacraments.
“Around 200,000 migrants have come to the UK from Hong Kong since 2020, many of whom are Catholic. The Church in England and Wales continues to provide pastoral support to all those from Hong Kong who seek it. I also offer my prayers for those who are persecuted because of their faith or political beliefs throughout the world.
“I ask Catholics in England and Wales to join with me in seeking the intercession of St. Maximillian Kolbe for Jimmy Lai, and in seeking the intercession of St Alban and St Frances Cabrini for all those who have had to leave their own country because of persecution.”
Lai, aged 78, faces what is effectively a life imprisonment sentence. He is currently being held in a maximum-security prison.
Former Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in January that he would “raise the issues that need to be raised” regarding human rights in his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Bishop Curry, lead Bishop for Freedom of Religion and Belief, asked Burnham to “follow the lead of his predecessors” to work to secure Lai’s release.
US President Donald Trump was later asked in May about the issue of Lai’s imprisonment, to which he responded that he would raise the issue with President Xi. After the state visit, President Trump said: “I did bring it up, but it’s a tougher one for him.”
Lai’s daughter Claire Lai told the Catholic Herald: “About 99 per cent of the things that they used to convict him with are things that happened prior to the law being enacted. And they are things that were perfectly legal at the time that they were done. He was peacefully advocating for China to keep its promise that it made for Hong Kong to be democratic.
“It’s using a very vague, arbitrary and draconian law. They just fished back and made it a crime.”
Concerns have been raised for Jimmy Lai’s health in prison, as he is a diabetic and suffers from heart and blood pressure issues. His daughter said that his health has deteriorated and that his blood pressure is only checked once every three weeks and his heart issues take “months to get anything checked”.
“His nails turn colours and they fall off and grow back just to fall off again,” his daughter said. “His teeth are rotting and he gets infections that last for months.”
She said that the cells he is being held in are 45 square-feet cells that raise to dangerously high temperatures.
Claire Lai said she was “extremely grateful” for efforts by the British Government to secure the release of her father, who only holds British citizenship.
“My father stood up for values that Britain stood up for values that Britain says it still holds, so I hope that they can show that that is still the case,” she said.
Lai converted to Catholicism in 1997 and was baptised and received into the Church by Cardinal Joseph Zen, Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong, a supporter of Hong Kong’s underground Catholic Church.
