'The plight of Jimmy Lai shames us all:' Jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and British citizen Jimmy Lai now exceeded 1,600 days in solitary confinement, yet has committed no crime

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨Hotznplotzn@lemmy.sdf.org⁩ to ⁨unitedkingdom@feddit.uk⁩

https://www.hongkongwatch.org/all-posts/2025/5/30/the-plight-of-jimmy-lai-shames-us-all-benedict-rogers

crosspostato da: lemmy.sdf.org/post/35703805

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[Op-ed by Benedict Rogers, Senior Director of Fortify Rights and a co-founder and trustee of Hong Kong Watch.]

Dictatorships use solitary confinement as a form of torture, designed to break the prisoner’s spirit. Under international law, “prolonged solitary confinement” is defined as exceeding 15 days.

British citizen and 77 year-old media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, in jail in Hong Kong, has now exceeded 1,600 days in solitary confinement, yet has committed no crime.

He has already served several prison sentences on multiple trumped-up charges, including 13 months for lighting a candle and saying a prayer at a vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

[…]

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Hotznplotzn@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Quick reminder that the Hong Kong National Security Law imposed by Beijing on 30 June 2020 is a breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, and a demonstration of China breaking its international commitments.

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- Horse@lemmygrad.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Quick reminder that the Sino-British Joint Declaration has been deemed void by China since 2014, the UK insisting it remains in effect is a demonstration of the british government not realizing it isn’t an empire anymore
  
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- bennieandthez@lemmygrad.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Aww the british are mad that they have no authority over china anymore, how sad.
  
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- freagle@lemmygrad.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Can you imagine Spain trying to hold the US accountable for every single law that might effect Puerto Rico, especially national security laws that are designed to ensure the continued stability of the country against potential meddling from Spain?
  
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freagle@lemmygrad.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

Dictatorships use solitary confinement as a form of torture

Solitary confinement is a form of torture. It’s torture when China does it, it’s torture when the USA does it. The difference isn’t which country is a dictatorship. The difference is that the USA does it to infants and children after ripping them away from their parents who are seeking asylum and does it to prisoners when their prison guards have their ego bruised, while China is using it on a literal enemy of the state trained and funded by a foreign government with a long history of being an adversary.

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- Hotznplotzn@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  What makes him an ‘enemy of the state’? What crime did he commit? There is absolutely nothing.
  
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  - bennieandthez@lemmygrad.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    I get that you dislike China, but sedition is a crime everywhere.
    
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  - freagle@lemmygrad.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    He collaborated with war Hawks in the USA like Bolton and Pompeo as part of his campaign as a British national to fight against the return of Hong Kong to the governance of China, spread anti-chinese propaganda, and politically organizing against the state.
    
    That’s all that’s needed. If a British national who lived in California and built up relationships with Russian and Iranian leaders was organizing politically to have California secede from the USA you can be damned sure that person would be in prison.
    
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  - Horse@lemmygrad.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    conspiring with the US government against China
    
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