As much as we saw it coming, I am still grieving.
On Monday, my dad, Jimmy Lai, was found guilty by a panel of judges in Hong Kong of sedition and conspiracy to collude with foreign agents to harm Hong Kong and China. He now faces life in prison.
My dad is 78 years old. He’s been in prison for more than five years, much of which has been spent in solitary confinement without any access to sunlight. The conditions have been harsh and inhumane.
We knew this verdict was coming. My dad was tried under Hong Kong’s extremely draconian National Security Law, which was implemented by the Chinese government in 2020 to go after people just like him—people who stand for freedom and truth. The law is arbitrary, and it has an extremely high conviction rate. That’s why most people who are charged under it plead guilty.
