Mr. Lai and several other executives of Apple Daily, a fiercely pro-democracy tabloid and very critical of Beijing, were arrested last spring for "collusion with foreign forces endangering national security."

Authorities blame the newspaper, which had to close in June after its assets were frozen, for calling for international sanctions against Hong Kong.

The "golden feather" has been awarded every year since 1961 to important defenders and promoters of press freedom.

The awarding of this trophy to Mr. Lai and his team illustrates "the fears and challenges" facing journalists in Hong Kong today, said Warren Fernandez, president of the World Publishers Forum.

Hong Kong press mogul Jimmy Lai is escorted by police on February 1, 2021 in Hong Kong as he exits the STR Court of Appeal AFP / Archives

"The incarceration of a director of the publication, the arrest of an editor-in-chief and his colleagues, the closing of an editorial office and the end of a press title: the 2021 Plume d'or award recognizes and makes all of that think, "Fernandez said at the virtual award ceremony on Wednesday.

The Basic Law - the Hong Kong mini-constitution in force since the handover in 1997 - in principle guarantees freedom of expression in the former British colony.

But a draconian "national security" law, imposed by Beijing in June 2020 after the gigantic pro-democracy protests of the previous year, has created a climate of fear for press freedom in the once semi-autonomous territory. .

"Fewer and fewer people will shine the light in these dark corners," said Sebastian Lai, Jimmy Lai's son, receiving the award for his father.

© 2021 AFP