This is a death sentence

They've sentenced Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison. He's 78, and his health is failing.

From Sunday’s Real Story, Shining A Light Inside China’s Trojan Horses:

As you read what follows, I want you to bear in mind that the great Jimmy Lai, champion of press freedom in Hong Kong and a hero of persecuted journalists in China and around the world, has been in jail for 1,867 days. After a 156-day trial and his conviction on charges of publishing seditious materials and colluding with foreign forces, Jimmy and several colleagues are due to be sentenced on Monday.

At the very least, if you’re so inclined, offer up a prayer for him. Jimmy’s a devout Catholic, and all this time in prison he’s been denied the Sacraments of the Mass.

Jimmy was sentenced today to serve a further 20 years on top of the time he’s already been imprisoned.

“This is effectively a death sentence and a cowardly act that is devoid of any humanity,” said Winnie Ng, co-chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China. “More broadly, it’s also a death knell to the freedom of expression and the rule of law in Hong Kong.”

The TADC implores the Government of Canada to take the lead among G7 countries to issue the strongest appeal to China for his immediate release. Jimmy is in desperately poor health. He is a diabetic, and his daughter Claire has said that his fingernails sometimes fall off, his teeth are rotting and he can barely stand. "Of course I worry that my father is going to be a martyr, and I don't want him to be a martyr.”

Jimmy has spent most of the time since his arrest in solitary confinement in a windowless cell. He was previously convicted of “incitement to riot” for lighting a candle at an event to commemorate the Tiananmen massacres of 1989. Also sentenced today: Six former senior staff of Jimmy’s Apple Daily newspaper, along with an activist and a paralegal, to serve jail terms of between six and 10 years.

“The rule of law has been completely shattered in Hong Kong,” said Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists. “Today’s egregious decision is the final nail in the coffin for freedom of the press in Hong Kong. The international community must step up its pressure to free Jimmy Lai if we want press freedom to be respected anywhere in the world.”

The New York Times’ full coverage with live updates is here.

We can’t give up on Jimmy Lai.

Call your MP. Call the Prime Minister’s Office. Anything.

If you’re a Roman Catholic, call your Archdiocese. The Vatican, deeply compromised by its “provisional agreement” allowing the Chinese Communist Party to vet the appointment of Chinese bishops, has been mostly silent on Jimmy’s persecution.

At the very least, as I suggested yesterday, offer up a prayer for him. This one’s fit for purpose.

When tyrants tremble sick with fear and hear their death knell ringing, when friends rejoice both far and near, how can I keep from singing?
In prison cell and dungeon vile, our thoughts to them are winging. When friends by shame are undefiled, how can I keep from singing?

No surrender.