BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - G7 Foreign Ministers have called on China to release Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon and politician Jimmy Lai, who was found guilty under the controversial national security law.
The Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States and the High Representative of the European Union have condemned the prosecution of Jimmy Lai under the National Security Law in Hong Kong that has led to his guilty verdict on Monday.
'We continue to express our concerns about deteriorating rights, freedoms and autonomy in Hong Kong. Freedom of expression and opinion, and media freedom, are enshrined in Hong Kong's Basic Law,' the foreign ministers said in a joint statement.
'We call on the Hong Kong authorities to end such prosecutions and to release Jimmy Lai immediately,' it added.
A prominent critic of the Chinese Communist Party and the government, Lai has been in jail since he was arrested in August 2020 by the Hong Kong police on charges of violating the self-governed Chinese territory's new national security law, which prompted widespread criticism.
Convicted on national security charges, he faces life in prison.
Reports indicate that Lai's health has severely deteriorated during more than 1,800 days in prison, that too in solitary confinement at Hong Kong's Stanley Prison.
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