STOCKHOLM: A bookseller detained in China for publishing books on the personal lives of President Xi Jinping and other Communist Party leaders has won a prize for free speech and press freedom awarded by a Swedish media organization.
Gui Minhai is one of five Hong Kong booksellers who went missing in 2015 and later appeared in mainland Chinese custody. The four others have returned to Hong Kong.
Awarding him the annual Anna Politkovskaya Memorial Prize, Publicistklubben said Gui had “despite personal risk ... shown great courage as a publisher and challenged the narrow-mined political agenda of the Chinese regime.”
The arrest of the five men prompted fears Beijing may be eroding the “one country, two systems” formula under which Hong Kong has been governed as a special administrative region since its return to China from British rule in 1997.
Publicistklubben said Gui, a Chinese-born Swede, was abducted in Thailand while on holiday and his family did not know where he was being held.
“I am glad that this prize will focus attention on my father’s situation,” the prize givers quoted his Swedish daughter, Angela Gui, as saying.
“Hopefully, more attention ... can lead to more information on his situation and health and that (he) will be treated better.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang, asked about the award, said he had “no interest” in commenting on what non-governmental groups got up to, and that he had no idea about the prize. He did not comment further.
China has said its law enforcement officials have done nothing illegal with regard to Gui.
The prize is named after Anna Politkovskaya, a Ukrainian journalist best known for reporting on human rights violations in Chechnya who was murdered in Moscow in 2006.
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Detained Hong Kong bookseller Gui wins Swedish free speech prize
Detained Hong Kong bookseller Gui wins Swedish free speech prize
Hong Kong ex-media tycoon Jimmy Lai faces sentencing after national security conviction
- Founder of now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper could face up to life in prison in the case that has stirred criticism
- Jimmy Lai previously was convicted of several lesser offenses related to fraud allegations and his actions in 2019
HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s pro-democracy former media tycoon Jimmy Lai will be sentenced Monday following his conviction in December under a Beijing-imposed national security law.
Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, could face up to life in prison in the case that has stirred criticism from some foreign governments.
The judiciary said Friday on its website that it’s calling for the sentencing session at 10 a.m. Monday.
Lai was an outspoken critic of China’s ruling Communist Party and was arrested in 2020 under the national security law that Beijing deemed necessary for the city’s stability following anti-government protests the previous year.
His trial was widely seen as an indicator of the decline of press freedom in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997. But the city’s government insists the case has nothing to do with media freedom.
The sentencing could create tensions between Beijing and foreign governments. Lai’s conviction already drew criticism from the US and Britain. After the December verdict, US President Donald Trump, who had raised Lai’s case with China, said he felt “so badly.” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration has called for the release of Lai, who is a British citizen.
Hong Kong’s Chief Justice Andrew Cheung said in January that calls for prematurely releasing a defendant based on political causes or identity circumvent legal procedures to ensure accountability and “strike at the very heart of the rule of law itself.”
Lai was found guilty of conspiring with others to collude with foreign forces and conspiracy to publish seditious articles. He was accused of conspiring with senior executives of Apple Daily and others to ask foreign forces to impose sanctions or blockades or engage in other hostile activities against Hong Kong or China.
Lai pleaded not guilty to all charges, while the six former Apple Daily journalists and two activists who are co-defendants entered pleas that could result in reduced sentences. They all are expected to return to court Monday to hear their fate.
Lai previously was convicted of several lesser offenses related to fraud allegations and his actions in 2019. He is serving a nearly six-year prison term for the fraud case.
Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, could face up to life in prison in the case that has stirred criticism from some foreign governments.
The judiciary said Friday on its website that it’s calling for the sentencing session at 10 a.m. Monday.
Lai was an outspoken critic of China’s ruling Communist Party and was arrested in 2020 under the national security law that Beijing deemed necessary for the city’s stability following anti-government protests the previous year.
His trial was widely seen as an indicator of the decline of press freedom in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997. But the city’s government insists the case has nothing to do with media freedom.
The sentencing could create tensions between Beijing and foreign governments. Lai’s conviction already drew criticism from the US and Britain. After the December verdict, US President Donald Trump, who had raised Lai’s case with China, said he felt “so badly.” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration has called for the release of Lai, who is a British citizen.
Hong Kong’s Chief Justice Andrew Cheung said in January that calls for prematurely releasing a defendant based on political causes or identity circumvent legal procedures to ensure accountability and “strike at the very heart of the rule of law itself.”
Lai was found guilty of conspiring with others to collude with foreign forces and conspiracy to publish seditious articles. He was accused of conspiring with senior executives of Apple Daily and others to ask foreign forces to impose sanctions or blockades or engage in other hostile activities against Hong Kong or China.
Lai pleaded not guilty to all charges, while the six former Apple Daily journalists and two activists who are co-defendants entered pleas that could result in reduced sentences. They all are expected to return to court Monday to hear their fate.
Lai previously was convicted of several lesser offenses related to fraud allegations and his actions in 2019. He is serving a nearly six-year prison term for the fraud case.
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