About the Speaker
Sebastien
Lai
Son of Jimmy Lai, founder of Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper
Sebastien Lai is leading the international campaign to free his father, Jimmy Lai, a freedom of speech champion, media entrepreneur, and owner of the now-shuttered newspaper Apple Daily. He is currently imprisoned in Hong Kong on trumped-up charges of “conspiring to print seditious publications to incite hatred against the Chinese and Hong Kong governments” and “colluding with foreign forces” under Beijing’s draconian National Security Law. At the age of 76, Jimmy is Hong Kong’s oldest political prisoner. Sebastien has given countless testimonies to raise awareness of his father’s case and the erosion of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, including at the UN Human Rights Council and the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China.