On the eve of the sham trial of British National Jimmy Lai resuming, Alicia Kearns MP has brought together 118 Parliamentarians globally from 24 countries and the European Parliament to condemn the ongoing arbitrary detention and unfair trial of Jimmy Lai and to demand Jimmy Lai’s immediate and unconditional release.
The letter is made public the day after Prime Minister Keir Starmer met Chinese Leader Xi Jinping and raised the case of Jimmy Lai, but it does not appear he called for his immediate release. An opportunity to be unequivocal that the UK expects the immediate and unconditional release of Jimmy Lai and for him and his family to be returned home.
Jimmy Lai is a British citizen, peaceful pro-democracy campaigner, journalist, publisher and prisoner of conscience who has been held in solitary confinement in a maximum security prison in Hong Kong for almost four years. Jimmy is being tried on trumped up charges arising from his peaceful promotion of democracy, his journalism and his human rights advocacy.
Alicia Kearns, Member of Parliament for Rutland and Stamford, said:
“Jimmy Lai is being inhumanely persecuted for standing up for basic human values. He represents the flame of freedom millions seek around the world.
“We have a duty to fight for Jimmy Lai as a British Citizen, and to take a stand against the Chinese Community Pary’s erosion of rule of law in Hong Kong.
“This letter represents the strength of international feeling and commitment of Parliamentarians globally to securing Jimmy Lai’s immediate release and return to the UK with his family.”
(Photo: AFP)
