Sebastian Lai spoke to AsiaNews about his father’s ordeal. The 78-year-old Catholic businessman, who fought for democracy in Hong Kong, has been in prison since 2020. Given his poor health as a diabetic, “the fear for his life is very real.” Too many diabetics “have died in that situation in Hong Kong prisons.” The former media owner “is in solitary confinement,” denied the right to attend Mass. US President Donald Trump said that he would speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping about his case and get him released. His mother’s meeting with Pope Leo XIV gave her strength.

Milan (AsiaNews) – It has been two months since closing arguments were heard on 28 August in the trial against Jimmy Lai, the Catholic businessman and founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, imprisoned in December 2020 under China’s infamous national security law. The 78-year-old, who suffers from diabetes, is stuck in a limbo of inhumanity. Persecuted, he is steadfast in his faith, convinced that he made the right choice for Hong Kong.

From abroad, his son Sebastian Lai is fighting for his release. He spoke[*] to AsiaNews about him in Milan, where, on his father's behalf, he accepted the Made for Truth Award, established by the Italian news website Daily Compass, on a special day in which he brought to Italy the story of his father's commitment to defending freedom.

“It started in 2023. The trial was meant to last 90 days, and now we're at the end of 2025, and he still hasn't been: still no verdict, still no sentence.” Now the date is “December, January time. But nobody really knows. It's a real farce of the Hong Kong legal system. But it shows you how broken and corrupted it is.”

The ordeal started in 2020. “It's been almost six years. The trial didn't start until 2023, during which time he had multiple sham sentences against him to keep him in. But the main thing is the national security law. On top of the incredible delays to his trial, the trial itself is a complete show trial.

“The clearest example is one of the people that testified against my father did so after being tortured (Andy Li, who collaborated with Lai). It has been widely reported by the international press that this is not going to be investigated because the state on whose behalf he testified is the one who tortured him.”

You have repeatedly expressed grave concerns about your father's health and the danger that he might die in prison.

“So it's kind of like holding your breath. It's just that the older he is, the more worried I am.

Given that he has diabetes, given that he's been kept in horrible conditions – no natural light, in solid confinement for six years almost, given his age. It's incredibly worrying.

We did some research about prisoners with diabetes in the Hong Kong prison system, and it's really alarming because the prognosis, if you are elderly, if you're over 65, and you have diabetes, is poor. Many people have died in that situation in Hong Kong prisons. So the fear for his life is very real.”

Does he receive visits?

Yes, he's allowed visits; as I understand it, four times a month. Obviously, when he went to court, he could see people, though it is a very dehumanising experience: he has to strip, make sure that he has nothing before going to court. But there at least, he gets to see people, who can see how much weight he lost, see the situation that he's in.

Can he practise his faith in prison?

“He can pray, and he does, and he actually draws a lot from drawings about Christ, though obviously, given his age, his eyesight is deteriorating. But he cannot go to Mass, because he's in solitary confinement, and until very recently, he could not receive the Eucharist.

All this is aimed at breaking him, breaking his spirit, essentially breaking this man. But you know, he's not broken, his faith is still very strong, and he still knows he did the right thing.”

Your mother met the Pope last week. What did he say to her?

“I think it was one of those public events (general audience), when you go up, you just shake, he just blesses you. But she understood that he knows the situation.

We are obviously very grateful to the Catholic Church, for the prayer for my father and standing behind him in this incredibly tough time.

I think it's given her a lot of strength. It's been a very tough, incredibly tough period for my mother. As you can imagine, seeing your husband decay behind bars, knowing that he did the right thing, that he's still the person you married him.

And every time you see him, he's worse and worse. So, meeting Pope Leo XIV and having the support of so many people, so many Catholics, is obviously immense.

We really hope that he is going to be part of the community of nations and people who help to secure his release. Even just to pray for my father, I think we'd be very grateful.”

We all know that when the verdict is published, it will be harsh.

“It is most likely going to be guilty. All things show that this will be the verdict.”

So what do you like to see after the sad conclusion of the trial?

“My father is close to 80 now. All the evidence that has come to trial shows that he's not violent, that he's a man of peace and a real moral force. A real, you know, person; he wanted democracy.

He always was against violence, always against Hong Kong independence. Someone who gave everything that he had, but for what, for many in the world, is the right cause. In that sense, given his age, I hope for some compassion, where he could leave the country, spend the rest of his life somewhere else and not have to die in prison, which I think is tremendously damaging for multiple countries, including Hong Kong and China.

They accused him of “collusion with foreign forces”

Well, it's insane. They talk about collusion with foreign forces. The only nefarious benefit my father would have gotten from 30 years of campaigning for democracy, giving everything that he has, is democracy. And democracy, one vote. His nefarious benefit would have been one vote, and every single other person in Hong Kong that's eligible to vote would have had one vote.

It's been the case for the last 30 years anyway. So I think that's that. Yes, he spoke to journalists, to foreign politicians. But it was in order to make sure that Hong Kong was democratic. It's campaigning, it's advocacy. In my view, it's the right thing to do.

Next Thursday, US President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. Do you think he will speak about your father's situation?

“He said that he would mention it. He said it publicly. He said that. Yes, I hope so. Because President Trump has an incredible track record of freeing people around the world, stopping wars as well. Liberating, freeing unjustly imprisoned people, taking an interest in my father's case has given us a lot of hope.”

And how do you see Hong Kong today? Has Bejing succeeded in its repression?

“I'd say that Hong Kong has been suppressed. But, the biggest, the loudest sound of oppression is silence. What have been the consequences of repression? People no longer trust Hong Kong as a place to do business. The local economy is very, very bad.

Although the stock market's gone on a tear in the last few months because of secondary listing and whatnot, the financial centre has moved to Singapore. Financial centres are based on trust. If you can't trust the system, if you can't trust the legal system, if someone gets in prison for standing up for what they believe... Thank you. Thank you so much. Bye.”

Has the UK done enough for Hong Kong?

China has built up the joint declaration. Obviously, I think it's great that they (UK authorities) have accepted so many Hong Kongers.

But my father is a British citizen. He's still in prison. Putting completely aside the heroic things that my father has done, they have a responsibility to free him.

And concretely speaking, it's not a big thing for Hong Kong and China to do. Administratively, it takes them two hours to put him on a plane and send him to the UK. So, I think, they could do better.

I think, on my father's case, the government is on side. But they just need to put action. And with him, we can believe in a better future, a future where people are freer, a freer, more democratic future.”

How do you think Jimmy Lai is remembered today in Hong Kong? How people view his trial and what is happening to him?

“When my father was first arrested, people lined up to buy the Apple Daily. I still remember one of the people was asked in the queue, why are you buying this? Isn't it practically illegal now? He turns around and says, ‘I'll buy it even if it was a blank piece of paper.’

I think that's what it is. It's the courage that my father and his journalists showed. I think that in elite circles, my father is probably not well liked. He never was because he doesn't suck up to them. He does what a journalist should do. He tells the truth to the powerful and is not willing to bend.

I hope that most people from Hong Kong appreciate what he's done, appreciate the sacrifice and appreciate his fight for his life at the moment. Because in a world where dad is... a world where dad achieves what he wants to achieve, which is universal suffrage, it's beneficial for everybody. For everybody in Hong Kong, it's inarguable and it's a plus.

But this is just me speculating. But hopefully they think it's a plus. A lot of people have come up to me, outside of Hong Kong obviously, and just said, you know, thank you for what you've done.”

What has your father's experience personally taught you?

He has obviously been very inspiring. He came to Hong Kong as a factory worker and then became one of the wealthiest people on the island. Then he turned around and said there's so many more important things than just an extra zero on the network, that freedom is something that, if nobody drives it, just keeps falling behind, dedicating his life to that.

When everybody told him to leave, he wasn't like, well, I'll leave and campaign from outside because that's where I'll be more effective. He knew that his journalists would be at risk and he stayed and defended them.

I'm so incredibly proud to have this man as my father. He's my hero, and I think he's the hero of many other people. How he's lived life has really guided how I think about life and one's responsibility to society and to one's beliefs.”

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[*] The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

• hong kong
• italy
• made for truth award
• daily compass
• jimmy lai
• sebastian lai
• national security law
• repression
• oppression