Lai son reveals ‘devastation as father jailed for 20 years

As global leaders decry Hong Kong's punishment of media tycoon Jimmy Lai, his son Sebastien tells The Independent he fears never seeing the 'inspirational' 78-year-old again

- JAMES C. REYNOLDS

The son of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai said his father had been effectively issued a death sentence as he was sentenced to a further 20 years in prison yesterday.

Sebastien Lai said the verdict was expected but “still devastating” and left him doubtful as to whether he would ever see his ailing father again.

Mr Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, was found guilty of collusion and sedition in his national security trial last year, five years after his arrest under the controversial national security law. He denies the charges.

His son told The Independent that his father was still “strong in spirit” despite “all these attempts to break him, including torture, confinement and horrible conditions that he’s been kept in.

“Even being held in solitary confinement for 10 days is insane for most people. He’s done 1,800 days of that. It’s inspirational,” he said, describing his father as his hero and adding: “Someone who has given up so much for freedom, I think, surely deserves some of it himself.”

Announcing their verdict yesterday, the three judges said Mr Lai’s sentence fell within the harshest penalty tier for offences of a “grave nature”, accusing him of being the driving force behind persistent foreign collusion conspiracies. The sentence drew uproar from the British government and other democracies around the world.