Former prisoners and hostages wrongly held abroad have urged the UK prime minister to urgently secure the release of the pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai before he dies in a Hong Kong jail.
The 77-year-old media mogul, who is a British citizen, has been held in solitary confinement for 1,602 days and his family fears he might not survive another summer in Hong Kong, where temperatures can reach 40C (104F).
A letter to Keir Starmer signed by 22 people who were detained abroad and their family members, says he must act “before it is too late”.
The signatories include Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Jason Rezaian, who were held in Iran, Matthew Hedges, who was imprisoned in the UAE, and Vladimir Kara-Murza, Alsu Kurmasheva and Paul Whelan, who were released by Russia last year in a prisoner swap with the US.
They write: “We know firsthand the horror of these cases and the reality of living everyday with the knowledge you may never see your loved one again. We also know that resolving these cases and bringing British citizens home to the UK depends on robust, principled, strategic action by the UK government.”
At a press conference in London on Wednesday, Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, lead international counsel for Lai and his son, Jimmy, said there had been “outrageous foot dragging” in Lai’s case, involving charges under the city’s punitive national security law.
She said it was supposed to last 30 days when it started after multiple adjournments in December 2023 but a current six-month pause meant closing submissions would not take place until August.
Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of Zaghari-Ratcliffe, said: “I think we do need to be looking at government squarely in the eye and saying … ‘How dare you not prioritise the protection of your citizens from torture, from profound injustice and from the risk of death?’”
An emotional Anoosheh Ashoori, 71, who was released in Iran at the same time as Zaghari-Ratcliffe, said: “Luckily, I was only 116 days in a solitary confinement. With someone who has been there for such a long time, even for me it is difficult to imagine how resilient he must be and what he has been through.”
The signatories urge Starmer to urgently accede to the Lai’s son’s request for a meeting with the prime minister.
Gallagher said that raising Lai’s case bilaterally was not enough, the UK government had to make the Chinese understand “that actually there is a conditionality or an impact if they don’t engage”.
A UK government spokesperson said Lai’s case was a priority, adding: “We continue to call on the Hong Kong authorities to end their politically motivated prosecution and immediately release Jimmy Lai.”
