WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th October, 2022) The US State Department slammed on Wednesday the guilty verdict in the fraud case faced by Jimmy Lai, the embattled owner of Hong Kong's shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily.
"The United States condemns the October 25 verdict against Hong Kong democracy advocate Jimmy Lai, founder of the Apple Daily newspaper, on spurious fraud charges," US State Department spokesperson Ned price said in a press release. "We remain deeply concerned about the deterioration in protection for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the systematic dismantling of Hong Kong's autonomy under the National Security Law (NSL)."
While Price noted that the fraud trial was not brought under the NSL, Hong Kong authorities nonetheless imposed the law's more restrictive legal procedures on the case. He called for the Chinese central government to restore respect for press freedom in Hong Kong, lest it undermine the city's democratic institutions and credibility as a business and financial hub.
Lai and two of his former executives were charged with two counts of fraud for subletting the newspaper's office space to a secretarial firm. He is already serving prison sentences amounting to 20 months for illegal assembly during the 2019 protest movement. He also faces collusion charges under the National Security Law and a sedition charge.
