Leading global media figures among signatories backing publisher, hit with wave of ‘lawfare’ including legislation to stop him hiring UK barrister
More than 100 journalists and editors have signed an open letter calling for the immediate release of Jimmy Lai, a British media mogul detained inLeading global media figures including the Guardian editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, and Nobel peace prize winner Maria Ressa called for the charges against Lai and other journalists in Hong Kong to be dropped.
Lai was charged with violating the national security law in August 2020. His trial for that case is scheduled for September, but since his arrest he has been convicted on separate charges of fraud and organising illegal protests – charges that his supporters say are politically motivated.
In March, Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, Lai’s international lawyer, said the tactics used by Hong Kong’s authorities amounted to “lawfare” – the use of legal mechanisms to suppress opposition – citing the fraud conviction as a tool to smear Lai’s character.allowing authorities to ban foreign lawyers from working on national security cases, as a means of preventing Lai from engaging Tim Owen, a UK barrister, in his coming trial.
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