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Jimmy Lai (photo from June 2020)
Photo: Anthony Wallace / AFP
Hong Kong democracy activist and publisher Jimmy Lai is currently on trial. Now a UN expert is warning that the witness statements at the trial were probably obtained through torture. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, said she was “deeply concerned” that evidence was allegedly obtained through torture or other unlawful means. She called for an immediate investigation into the allegations "before the evidence is admitted in court."
According to Edwards, a key prosecution witness was tortured while incarcerated in a Chinese prison between 2020 and 2021. Torture and other coercive techniques to force confessions are well documented in China, emphasized the UN expert.
According to Article 15 of the UN Convention against Torture, which was also ratified by Beijing, “statements obtained through torture may not be used as evidence in proceedings,” explained Edwards.
Lai faces life imprisonment
Lai is one of the best-known activists in the Hong Kong democracy movement and has been on trial in Hong Kong since the end of 2023 for “sedition” and “collaboration with foreign forces”. The 76-year-old, who also has British citizenship and founded the newspaper Apple Daily, rejects all allegations. If convicted, he could face life in prison. Lai has been sentenced to several prison terms in the past, most recently in December 2022.
The allegations now made against Lai all revolve around publications in his newspaper. The indictment is based on the so-called national security law passed by the central government in Beijing in 2020 after massive pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, which has been sharply criticized by the West. The newspaper “Apple Daily” and other pro-democracy media were forcibly closed in 2021.
col/AFP